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On December 8, 2000 a statue of John Lennon by Cuban sculptor José Villa was dedicated in a park in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana. The statute was unveiled by President Fidel Castro Ruz and singer Silvio Rodriguez.
The following dedication speech was given by Ricardo Alarcon Quesada, president of the Cuban National Assembly, Vice-President of Cuba
DEAR JOHN,
YOU WERE ALWAYS AMONG US
"Here, in front of the excellent work of art of José Villa, we return to listen to what some said twenty years ago today: "About this man you can believe anything except that he is dead. "
Nostalgia does not bring us together. We are not inaugurating a monument to the past, nor a site to commemorate something that disappeared.
This place will always be a testimonial to struggle, a summoning to humanism. It will also be a permanent homage to a generation that wanted to transform the world, and to the rebellious spirit, innovative, of the artist who helped forge that generation and at the same time is one of its most authentic symbols.
The sixties were much more than a period in a century that is ending. Before anything else, they were a attitude toward life, that profoundly affected the culture, the society and politics, and crossed all borders. Their renewing impulse rose up, victorious, overwhelming the decade, but it had been born before that time and has not stopped even up to today.
Years afterward, and affirming the continuity of the movement, Lennon described it with these words: "The Sixties saw a revolution among the youth . . . a complete revolution in the mode of thinking. The young people took it up first, and the following generation afterwards. The Beatles were a part of the revolution. We were all in that boat in the sixties. Our generation -- a boat that went to discover the New World. And the Beatles were the lookouts on that boat. We were a part of it."
Dear John.
It was more that a few who said, twenty years ago, that that 8th of December was the end of an era. Many feared it among the millions who offered you ten minutes of silence and the multitude that on the 14th congregated in Central Park in New York to express a pain that time does not placate.
It was Yoko who then advised: "the message should not end." And little Sean, knew how to express the greater truth: He imagined you bigger, after death, "because now you are everywhere."
You were always among us. Now, in addition, we offer you this bench where you can rest and this park to receive your compañeros and friends.
Your message could not disappear because love had, and still has, many battles to fight. Because you had the privilege to hear it in millions of voices that became yours and continued raising it up like a hymn.
Wasn't it a yellow submarine that surfaced that afternoon in 1966 in the port of New York and marched at the front of thousands of young people who condemned the war? How many hundreds of thousands demanded that peace be given a chance, and were in solidarity with the people of Vietnam, there in Washington, in front of the monument, that unforgettable November 15th in 1969? On that day, didn't your art reach its highest realization? How many times did it not multiply from Berkeley to New England and from one continent to another, that generation that believed that love could prevail over war?
Our boat will continue sailing. Nothing will stop it. It is driven by "a wind that never dies." They will call us dreamers but our ranks will grow. We will defend the vanquished dream and struggle to make real all dreams. Neither storms nor pirates will hold us back. We will sail on until we reach the new world that we will know how to build.
We will meet again, tonight, at the concert. We will go on together, always."
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The above speech is not copyrighted. You can read read the entire speech at:
http://www.blythe.org/nytransfer-subs/alarcon-lennon.html
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