Yoko Ono awarded prestigious German peace prize

Berlin - "For her lasting artistic and peace-promoting political work," Yoko Ono, Japanese artist and widow of John Lennon, has won a prestigious German peace prize — the Theodor Wanner Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award recalls the German manager and patron Theodor Wanner (1875-1955), on whose initiative the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (IFA) was founded in 1917. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle watched as Ono received the prize near Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate. 80-year-old Ono said to the watching crowd:"This prize is a message to me from you that what I've been doing was understood by you." "Now is time for action and action is peace. Think peace, act peace, spread peace, and let's make it all together." The award included 10,000 euros ($13,700), which Ono immediately handed to Boniface Mwangi, who runs an organization that helps young artists in Kenya.