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Hippie, occasionally spelled hippy, refers to a subgroup of the 1960s counterculture that began in the United States, becoming an established social group by 1965 before declining in the 1970s. Hippies, along with the New Left and the civil rights movement, are considered the three dissenting groups of the 1960s counterculture movement. Hippies were part of a youth movement, composed mostly of white teenagers and young adults between the ages of 15 and 25 years-old. Inheriting a tradition of cultural dissent from the bohemians and the beatniks, hippies rebelled against established institutions, criticised middle class values, opposed the Vietnam War, embraced aspects of non-Judeo-Christian religions, promoted sexual liberation, and created intentional communities, leading some to describe hippies as a new religious movement. Hippies were against "political and social orthodoxy", choosing a "gentle and nondoctrinaire" politics that favoured "peace, love, and personal freedom." . Hippies perceived the dominant culture as a corrupt, monolithic entity that exercised undue power over their lives. They often called this culture "The Establishment," "Big Brother," or "The Man." Hippie opposition to the Establishment spread around the world through a fusion of early rock, folk, blues and psychedelic rock, with the dramatic arts and the visual arts in tow. The 21st century has brought with it a neo-hippie movement, with an ethos similar to that of the original hippies. Etymology Reminiscing about late 1930s Harlem in his 1964 autobiography, Malcolm X referred to the word hippy as a term African Americans used to describe a specific type of white man who "acted more Negro than Negroes." The term hipster was coined by Harry Gibson in 1940, and used by the American Beat generation during the 1940s and 1950s to describe jazz and swing music performers. The word evolved to describe bohemian counterculture. In 1963, British band The Swinging Blue Jeans released the song "Hippy Hippy Shake", which rose to On the east coast of the U.S. in Greenwich Village, young counterculture advocates were named hips. At that time, to be hip meant to be "in the know" or "cool", as opposed to being called a stodgy "square". Disaffected youth from the suburbs of New York City flocked to Village coffeehouses in their oldest clothes to fit into the counterculture,. Radio station WBAI was the first media outlet to use the term hippie as a pejorative term meaning "hip wannabes", describing the poorly-dressed, middle class youths. On 5 September 1965, the first use of the word hippie appeared in print. In an article entitled "A New Haven for Beatniks," San Francisco journalist Michael Fallon wrote about the Blue Unicorn coffeehouse, using the term hippie to refer to the new generation of beatniks who had moved from North Beach into the Haight. Fallon reportedly came up with the name by condensing Norman Mailer's use of the word, "hipster" into "hippie". The name did not catch on in the mass media until almost two years later, after San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen began using the term hippies in his daily columns. In his book Ringolevio, Emmet Grogan claims that shopkeepers operating out of the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco called themselves the Haight Independent Proprietors and coined the word "Hippy". History Antecedents In the 1890s, a European back-to-nature movement began, inspired by the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Goethe, Hermann Hesse, and Eduard Baltzer. Thousands of young Germans dropped out of society, attempting to return to the natural, pagan, and spiritual life of their ancestors. Over several decades, these beliefs were introduced to the United States as Germans settled around the country, some opening the first health food stores. Many moved to Southern California where they could practice an alternative lifestyle in a warm climate. In turn, young Americans adopted the beliefs and practices of the new immigrants. One group, called the "Nature Boys", took to the California desert, raised organic food, and espoused a back-to-nature lifestyle. Eden Ahbez, a member of this group, wrote a hit song called Nature Boy, which was recorded in 1947 by Nat King Cole, popularizing the homegrown back-to-nature movement to mainstream America. Eventually, a few of these Nature Boys, including the famous Gypsy Boots, made their way to Northern California in 1967, just in time for the Summer of Love in San Francisco. Beat generation The Beat Generation gradually gave way to the Sixties counterculture, accompanied by a shift in terminology from "beatnik" to "hippie". Many of the original Beats remained active participants, notably Allen Ginsberg, who became a fixture of the anti-war movement. On the other hand, Jack Kerouac broke with Ginsberg and criticized the 60s protest movements as "new excuses for spitefulness". In general, the beats were a large influence on members of the new counterculture. Bob Dylan became close friends with Allen Ginsberg, and Ginsberg became close friends with Timothy Leary, helping him distribute LSD. In 1963, Ginsberg was living in San Francisco with Neal Cassady and Charles Plymell at 1403 Gough St. (Charles Plymell later helped publish the first issue of R. Crumb's Zap Comix a few years later, then moved to Ginsberg's commune in Cherry Valley, NY in the early 1970s). Around that time, Ginsberg connected with Ken Kesey who was taking LSD at Stanford. Neal Cassady was the bus driver for Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters and he attempted to recruit Kerouac into their group, but Kerouac angrily rejected their invitation and accused them of attempting to destroy the American culture he celebrated. According to Ed Sanders the change in the public label from "beatnik" to "hippie" occurred after the 1967 Human Be-In in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, where Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder and Michael McClure led the crowd in chanting "Om". Ginsberg was also at the the 1968 Democratic Convention, and was friends with Abbie Hoffman and other members of the Chicago Seven. Stylistic differences between beatniks, marked by somber colors, dark shades, and goatees, gave way to colorful psychedelic clothing and long hair worn by hippies. While the beats were known for "playing it cool" and keeping a low profile, the hippies became known for "being cool", and displaying their individuality. Although the beats tended to be essentially apolitical, the hippies became active in the civil rights and anti-war movements. Haight-Ashbury The earliest San Francisco hippies were former students at San Francisco State College (later renamed San Francisco State University) who had "dropped out" after they started taking psychedelic drugs and began living communally in the large, inexpensive Victorian apartments in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Diggers Hippie action in the Haight centered around the Diggers, a guerrilla street theatre group that combined spontaneous street theatre, anarchistic action, and art happenings in their agenda to create a "free city." The Diggers grew from two radical traditions thriving in the area during the mid-1960s: the bohemian/underground art/theater scene, and the new left/civil rights/peace movement. By late 1966, the Diggers opened stores which simply gave away their stock; provided free food, medical care, transport and temporary housing; they also organized free music concerts and works of political art. Trips Festival One of the first major psychedelic events in San Francisco was the Trips Festival at Longshoreman's Hall, which took place on January 21-23, 1966 and which was organized by Stewart Brand, Ken Kesey, Owsley Stanley and others. The big night, Saturday January 22, saw the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company on stage, and 6,000 people arrived to imbibe punch spiked with LSD and witness the first major light show of the era. Love Pageant Rally On October 6, 1966, the San Francisco hippies staged an enormous gathering in Golden Gate Park called "The Love Pageant Rally." As explained by Allan Cohen, co-founder of the San Francisco Oracle, the purpose of the rally was two-fold — to draw attention to the fact that LSD had just been made illegal, and to demonstrate that people who used LSD were not criminals, nor were they mentally ill. Rather, people who took LSD were mostly idealistic people who wanted to learn more about themselves and their place in the universe, and they used LSD as an aid to meditation and to creative, artistic expression. Thousands of hits of LSD were distributed free at the rally, and the Grateful Dead played; its huge success drew many more curious seekers to the Haight-Ashbury district. Los Angeles Los Angeles also had a vibrant hippie scene during the mid-1960s. The Venice coffeehouses and beat culture sustained the hippies, giving birth to bands like The Doors. Sunset Strip became the quintessential L.A. hippie gathering area, with its seminal rock clubs Whisky-a-Go-Go and the Troubadour. The Strip was the location of the protest described in Buffalo Springfield's early 1966 hippie anthem, For What It's Worth. Summer of Love On January 14, 1967, the outdoor Human Be-In in San Francisco popularized hippie culture across the United States, with 20,000 hippies gathering in Golden Gate Park. The Monterey Pop Festival from June 16-18 introduced the rock music of the counterculture to a wide audience and marked the start of the "Summer of Love." Scott McKenzie's rendition of John Phillips' song, "San Francisco," became a hit in the United States and Europe. The lyrics, "If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair", inspired thousands of young people from all over the world to travel to San Francisco (75,000-100,000 by police estimates) wearing flowers in their hair and distributing flowers to passersby, earning them the name, "Flower Children." Bands like the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane contined to live in the Haight, but by the end of the summer, the incessant media coverage led the Diggers to declare the "death" of the hippie with a parade. According to the late poet, Stormi Chambless, they buried an effigy of 'Hippie' in the Panhandle to demonstrate the end of his reign. When the Summer of Love finally ended, thousands of hippies left San Francisco and created the largest number of intentional communities in the history of the United States, forming alternative, egalitarian communes in northern California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Tennesse. Thousands of flower children returned home, bringing new styles, ideas and behaviors to all major U.S. cities and European capitals. Soon London, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin and Rome rivaled San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York as hippie centers. Regarding this period of history, a July 7, 1967 issue of TIME magazine, featured a cover story entitled, "The Hippies: The Philosophy of a Subculture." The article described the guidelines of the hippie code: "Do your own thing, wherever you have to do it and whenever you want. Drop out. Leave society as you have known it. Leave it utterly. Blow the mind of every straight person you can reach. Turn them on, if not to drugs, then to beauty, love, honesty, fun." Stephen Gaskin In 1967, Stephen Gaskin began to develop a philosophy of hippie perspectives at San Francisco State College, where Gaskin taught English, creative writing, and General Semantics. Gaskin's "Monday Night Class" became a broad, open discussion group involving up to 1500 students and other participants from the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1970, Gaskin and his wife, Ina May Gaskin, invited by mid-western preachers to explain "what was happening" to their "Mr and Mrs Jones" congregations, led a caravan of 60 buses, vans and trucks on a cross country speaking tour. Along the way, they checked out various places that might be suitable for settlement. By the time they got back to San Francisco, they realized that they had become a "thing", and decided to return to Summertown, Tennessee, where they bought 1700 acres and created an intentional community called "The Farm.” The Farm became a widely respected, spiritually-based hippie community that is still in existence, although it is now more a hip village of 300 than a commune of 1200. Peoples Park In April, 1969, the building of People's Park in Berkeley, California received international attention. The University of California, Berkeley had demolished all the buildings on a 2.8 acre parcel near campus, intending to use the land to build playing fields and a parking lot. After a long delay, during which the site became a dangerous eyesore, thousands of ordinary Berkeley citizens, merchants, students, and hippies took matters into their own hands, planting trees, shrubs, flowers and grass to convert the land into a park. A major confrontation ensued on May 15, 1969, and Governor Ronald Reagan ordered a two-week occupation of the city of Berkeley by the National Guard. Flower power came into its own during this occupation as hippies engaged in acts of civil disobedience to plant flowers in empty lots all over Berkeley under the slogan "Let A Thousand Parks Bloom." Woodstock In August, 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Festival took place in Bethel, New York, which for many exemplified the best of hippie counterculture. Over 500,000 people arrived to hear the most notable musicians and bands of the era, among them Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, and Jimi Hendrix. Wavy Gravy's Hog Farm provided security and attended to practical needs, and the hippie ideals of love and human fellowship seemed to have gained real-world expression. Altamont In December, 1969, a similar event took place in Altamont, California, about 30 miles east of San Francisco. Initially billed as "Woodstock West," its official name was The Altamont Free Concert. About 300,000 people gathered to hear The Rolling Stones, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Jefferson Airplane and other bands. The Hells Angels provided security that proved far less beneficent than the security provided at the Woodstock event--18-year-old Meredith Hunter was stabbed and killed while drawing a gun in front of the stage during The Rolling Stones performance, and four accidental deaths occurred. There were also four births at the concert. 1970-1973 "Whoever marries the zeitgeist will be a widower soon." – August Everding By 1970, the 1960s zeitgeist that had spawned hippie culture seemed to be on the wane. The events at Altamont shocked many Americans, including those who had strongly identified with hippie culture. Another shock came in the form of the Tate/LaBianca murders committed in August 1969 by Charles Manson and his "family" of followers. Charles Manson Charles Manson was a hard-core, institutionalized criminal who had been released from prison just in time for San Francisco's Summer of Love. With his long hair and the ability to charm a crowd with his guitar playing, his singing, and his rhetoric, Manson exhibited many of the outward manifestations of hippie identity. Yet Manson hardly exemplified the hippie ideals of peace, love, compassion and human fellowship; through twisted logic and psychological manipulation, he inspired his followers to commit murder. Manson's highly publicized 1970 trial and subsequent conviction in January 1971 irrevocably tarnished the hippie image in the eyes of the American public. Other factors--for instance, the arrival of hard drugs and their associated dependency--also contributed to the decline. Mainstream By the early 1970s much of hippie style had been integrated into mainstream American society; hippie music and fashion had become mainstream —large rock concerts that originated with the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, and the 1968 Isle of Wight Festival became the norm; mustaches, beards and longer hair abounded; colorful, multi-ethnic clothing dominated the fashion world. In the mid-seventies, the media lost interest in the hippie counterculture as it went out of fashion. The Vietnam War came to an end, and hippies became targets for ridicule with the advent of punk rock and disco. Outside the United States, hippie culture has remained visible as a countercultural movement, especially in Britain, Denmark, New Zealand and Australia. Politics Hippies were often pacifists and participated in non-violent political demonstrations, such as civil rights marches, the marches on Washington D.C., and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, including draft card burnings and the 1968 Democratic Convention protests. The degree of political involvement varied widely among hippies, from those who were completely apolitical to Yippies, the most politically active hippie sub-group. In addition to non-violent political demonstrations, hippie opposition to the Vietnam War included organizing political action groups to oppose the war, refusal to serve in the military and conducting "teach-ins" on college campuses that covered Vietnamese history and the larger political context of the war. Some Americans, especially conservatives, military personnel, and veterans, saw hippie opposition to the war as a lack of commitment to the principles of American freedom in the Cold War battle against communism. They also felt that even non-violent public demonstrations against the Vietnam War were unpatriotic because they compromised the ability of the United States to prosecute the war. Scott McKenzie's 1967 rendition of John Phillips' song "San Francisco," which inspired the hippie Summer of Love, became a homecoming song for all Vietnam veterans arriving in San Francisco from 1967 on. Mr. McKenzie has dedicated every American performance of "San Francisco" to Vietnam veterans, and he sang at the 2002 20th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. "San Francisco" became a freedom song worldwide, especially in Eastern European nations that suffered under Soviet-imposed communism. Other songs, such as Lloyd Marcus' "Welcome Home Brother," have given voice to Vietnam veterans who felt disrespected by hippies and who lamented that fellow Americans never properly honored them for their sacrifices in serving the nation. Although hippies were sometimes accused of verbally attacking soldiers returning home from duty in Vietnam, or participating in the torching of ROTC buildings on college campuses, with the exception of a small radical fringe element hippies did not verbally assault military personel and did not condone acts of political violence. With the release of FBI records under the Freedom of Information Act, it has become clear that many such attacks were actually perpetrated by FBI COINTELPRO agents provocateurs operating on J. Edgar Hoover's instructions to discredit those who opposed the Vietnam War. Hippie political expression often took the form of "dropping out" of society to implement the changes they sought. At their inception, the back to the land movement, cooperative business enterprises, alternative energy, the free press movement, and organic farming were all politically motivated hippie enterprises. Sexual attitudes Hippies regularly flouted societal prohibitions against interracial dating and marriage. They were early advocates for the repeal of anti-miscegenation laws that the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 1967 (Loving v. Virginia), but which remained on the books in some U.S. states until 2000. With their emphasis on Free Love, hippies promoted many of the same counterculture beliefs that found early expression in the Beat Generation. Co-habitation among unmarried couples was the norm, open relationships were common, and both Beats and Hippies advocated for legal and societal acceptance of most forms of consensual sexual expression outside the traditional bounds of marriage and procreation, with the exception of sex with children. With regard to homosexuality and bisexuality, the Beats had demonstrated early tolerance during an era when homosexual expression of any sort was still punishable by stiff prison sentences. Hippies espoused the same tolerant attitude. Drugs Hippies enlarged their repertoire of recreational drugs to include not only marijuana but also hallucinogens such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline. The use of these drugs became common in hippie settings. On the East Coast of the United States Harvard professors Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert advocated the use of psychotropic drugs for religious purposes. Regarding LSD, Leary said, "Expand your consciousness and find ecstasy and revelation within." Fashion
Lifestyle Travel Hippies traveled light and could pick up and go wherever the action was at any time; whether at a "love-in" on Mount Tamalpais near San Francisco, a demonstration against the Vietnam War in Berkeley, a party at Ken Kesey's "Acid Tests" , or if the "vibe" wasn't right and a change of scene was desired, hippies were mobile at a moments notice. Pre-planning was eschewed as hippies were happy to put a few clothes in a backpack, stick out their thumbs, and hitchhike anywhere. Hippies seldom worried whether they had money, hotel reservations or any of the other standard accoutrements of travel. Hippie households welcomed overnight guests on an impromptu basis, and the reciprocal nature of the lifestyle permitted enormous freedom of movement. People generally co-operated to meet each other's needs in ways that became less common after the early 1970's. This way of life is still seen among the Rainbow Family groups and new age travellers. A derivative of this free-flow style of travel were hippie trucks and buses, hand-crafted mobile houses built on truck or bus chassis to facilitate a nomadic lifestyle. Some of these mobile gypsy houses were quite elaborate with beds, toilets, showers and cooking facilities. On the West Coast, a unique lifestyle developed around the Renaissance Faires that Phyllis and Ron Patterson first organized in 1963. During the summer and fall months, entire families traveled together in their trucks and buses, parked at Renaissance Pleasure Faire sites in Southern and Northern California, worked their crafts during the week, and donned Elizabethan costume for weekend performances and to attend booths where handmade goods were sold to the public. The sheer number of young people living at the time made for unprecedented travel opportunities to special happenings. The peak experience of this type was the Bethel, New York Woodstock Festival that was held August 15-19, 1969, and which was attended by over 500,000 people. Legacy Since the 1960s, aspects of the hippie counterculture have been assimilated by the mainstream: In general While some hippies made a long-term commitment to the lifestyle, some younger people argue that hippies "sold out" during the 1980s and became part of the materialist, consumer culture. Hippies may be found in bohemian enclaves around the world, or "touring" with the bands they love. Others have been following the hippie lifestyle since it began, though their ranks may include younger people who do not consider themselves "neo-hippies." Contemporary hippies have made use of the World Wide Web and can be found on virtual communities such as Hippyland and Hip Forums in the US or UKhippy in the UK. In the United Kingdom, the New age travellers movement revived hippie traditions into the 1980s and 1990s. Current events, festivals and parties continue to promote the hippie lifestyle and values. The "boho-chic" fashion style of 2003-2005 had a number of hippie features, and the London Evening Standard even used the term "hippie chic" (11 March 2005). Rainbow Family In the United States, some hippies refer to themselves as "Rainbows," a name derived from their tie-dyed T-shirts, and for some, from their participation in the hippie group, "Rainbow Family of Living Light". Since the early 1970s, the Rainbows meet informally at Rainbow Gatherings on U.S. National Forest Land as well as internationally. "Peace, love, harmony, freedom and community" is their motto. Nambassa People Pix.jpg|thumb|255px|right|Hippies at the Nambassa 1981 Festival New Zealand http://www.nambassa.com " Between 1976 and 1981, hippie music festivals were held on large farms around Waihi and Waikino in New Zealand- Aotearoa. Named "Nambassa", the festivals focused on peace, love, and a balanced lifestyle, featuring workshops and displays advocating alternative lifestyles, clean and sustainable energy, and unadulterated foods. Nambassa is also the tribal name of a trust that has championed sustainable ideas and demonstrated practical counterculture and alternative lifestyle methods since the early 1970s. Glastonbury Festival In the UK, hippies gather at the annual Glastonbury Festival to see hundreds of live dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other performances. In 2005, the festival covered 900 acres (3.6 km²) and attracted 150,000 people. Oregon Country Fair The Oregon Country Fair began in 1969 as a benefit for an alternative school. Currently, the three-day festival features hand-made crafts, educational displays and costumed entertainment in a wooded setting near Veneta, Oregon just west of Eugene. Each year the festival becomes the fourth largest city in the state. * Burning Man The Burning Man festival began in 1986 at a San Francisco beach party. Now an annual gathering, the event is held in the Black Rock Desert northeast of Reno, Nevada. Though few participants would accept the "hippie" label, Burning Man is a contemporary expression of alternative community in the same spirit as early hippie events. The gathering becomes a temporary city (36,500 occupants in 2005), with elaborate encampments, displays and many art cars. Pejorative usage To the Beat Generation, the flood of 1960s youths adopting Beatnik sensibilities appeared as a cheap, mass-produced imitation. By Beat standards, these newcomers were not clever enough to really be "hip," so hippie was a term they used with disdain. Columnist Herb Caen's daily references to hippies expressed fascination and mild amusement rather than disapproval. Liberals also used the hippie label pejoratively. They regarded hippies as lacking political sophistication and hesitated to enlist their aid in promoting progressive political objectives. They also criticized what they saw as a hippie tendency towards degeneracy. Others used the term hippie in a more personal way to disparage long-haired, unwashed, unkempt drug users. In contemporary conservative settings, and especially in political discourse, the term hippie alludes to slacker attitudes, irresponsibility, participation in recreational drug use, activism in causes considered relatively trivial, and leftist political leanings. An example is its use by the South Park cartoon character, Eric Cartman. In the "Die Hippie, Die" episode (viewable here*), the entire town joins Cartman in his negative view of hippies after they invade South Park for a "Hippie Music Jam Festival … creating the largest such gathering in the history of Man." Neo-hippies
Hippie slang and the Wolof language Hippie slang may be traced to the West African Wolof language. Some English words originate from the Bantu and Wolof languages that arrived with West African slaves and became common among African Americans. Linguists are in disagreement regarding some of the following: See also Notes | |||||||||||
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