The Youth International Party (whose adherents were known as Yippies, a variant on "Hippies") was a highly theatrical political party established in the United States in 1967. An offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the 1960s, the Yippies presented a more radically youth-oriented and countercultural alternative to those movements. They employed theatrical gestures—such as advancing a pig ("Pigasus the Immortal") as a candidate for President in 1968—to mock the social status quo.[1] They have been described as a highly theatrical youth movement of “symbolic politics.” [2] Since they were better known for street theatre and politically-themed pranks, many of the "old school" political left either ignored or denounced them. One Communist newspaper in the USA derisively referred to them as "Groucho Marxists".
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Background
The Yippies had no formal membership or hierarchy: Abbie Hoffman, Anita Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Nancy Kurshan, and Paul Krassner were among the founders of the Yippies (according to his own account, Krassner coined the name). Other activists associated with the Yippies include Stew Albert, Allen Ginsberg, Ed Sanders, Phil Ochs, William Kunstler, Jonah Raskin, Dana Beal, Judy Collins [1], and David Peel. A Yippie flag was frequently seen at anti-war demonstrations. The flag had a black background with a five pointed red star in the center, and a green cannabis leaf superimposed over it. This flag is also mentioned in Hoffman's Steal This Book.
Origins
The term Yippie was thought up by Krassner and Hoffman on New Year's Eve 1967. Anita Hoffman liked the word, but felt the New York Times and other "straight-laced types" needed a more formal name to take the movement seriously. That same night she came up with Youth International Party, because it symbolized the movement and made for a good play on words. Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin became the most famous Yippies — and best-selling authors — in part due to publicity surrounding the five-month Chicago Seven Conspiracy trial of 1969. Hoffman and Rubin were arguably the most colorful of the seven defendants accused of criminal conspiracy and inciting to riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Hoffman and Rubin used the trial as a platform for Yippie antics—at one point, they showed up in court attired in judicial robes. In 1970, in his presence, Felix Dennis referred to Hoffman as, "the most unreasonable cunt I've ever met," during a live transmission of The Frost Programme, the first broadcast of the obscenity on British television.
YIP culture and activism
Many Yippies used nicknames which contained Baby Boomer television or pop references, such as Pogo or Gumby. Pogo is famous for creating the chant "No More Mindless Chants" in the mid70s. At demonstrations and parades, Yippies often wore face paint or colorful bandannas to keep from being identified in photographs. Other Yippies reveled in the spotlight, allowing their stealthier comrades the anonymity they needed for their pranks. Yippies were famous for their sense of humor. Many direct actions were elaborate pranks or put-ons, like the time they applied for a permit to levitate the Pentagon. The most famous prank was a guerrilla theater event in New York City. Abbie Hoffman and a group of Yippies managed to get into a tour of the New York Stock Exchange. They threw hundreds of dollar bills from the balcony of the visitors' gallery to the floor below. The stock exchange shut down as wealthy men in suits trampled each other to get dollar bills. The visitors' gallery was closed until a glass barrier could be installed, to ensure that it never happened again. When they feel enthusiastic about a speaker or performer, Yippies howl "yip yip yip YIPEEEE!" like coyotes. They identify with the coyote as archetypal trickster, adding yet another layer to the elaborate pun that is YIP. YIP had chapters all over the US and in other countries, with particularly active groups in New York, Vancouver, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Columbus and Chicago. On Aug. 6, 1970, L.A. Yippies invaded Disneyland, hoisting the New Nation flag at City Hall.[3] Vancouver Yippies invaded the U.S. border town of Blaine, Wash., on May 9, 1970, to protest Nixon's invasion of Cambodia and the shooting of students at Kent State.[4] Chicago organized events and hosted national events well into the 80s. A frequent complaint heard from the chapters outside of NYC was that New York acted as if they did not exist anymore and kept them out of the decision making. New York was generally considered the headquarters of YIP, yet not everyone agreed that YIP should even have a headquarters. There was a clash with police on 22 March 1968, where a large group of countercultural youths led by the Yippies, descended into Grand Central Station, where some caused more intimidating havoc than anticipated. The night erupted into a violent clash with police that Don McNeill of The Village Voice christened a “pointless confrontation in a box canyon.” [5] Yippie theatrics culminated at the 1968 Democratic Party Convention in Chicago. This was supposed to be a ‘Festival of Life’ to counter the ‘Convention of Death.’[6] This promised to be “The blending of pot and politics into a potlitical grass leaves movement – a cross-fertilization of the hippie and New Left philosophies.” Participants were urged to yell such things as “’We will burn Chicago to the ground!’ ‘We will fuck on the beaches!’ ‘We demand the the Politics of Ecstasy!’ ‘Acid for all!’ ‘Abondon the Creeping Meatball!’ And all the time ‘Yippie! Chicaco – August 25 – 30.’” [7]
Writings
The Youth International Party Line (YIPL; later, the name was changed to TAP for Technological American Party or Technological Assistance Program), in June 1971 Hoffman and Al Bell started the pioneer phreak magazine. A YIP-related newspaper, The Yipster Times was founded by Dana Beal in 1972 and published in New York City. It changed its name to Overthrow in 1979. The New Yippie Press Collective published "Blacklisted News: Secret Histories from Chicago '68 to 1984" in 1983. It is still in print. The most famous writing to come out of the Yippie movement, is Abbie Hoffman’s Steal This Book, which is considered to be a guidebook in causing general mischief and capturing the spirit of the Yippie movement. Hoffman is also the author of Revolution for the Hell of It which has been called the original Yippie book. [8]
Yippies in the New Millennium
The Yippies have continued as a small movement into the early 2000s. The New York chapter no longer publishes a newspaper, but is known for their annual marches in New York City to legalize marijuana. Beal crusades for the use of Ibogaine to treat heroin addicts. His erstwhile associate Aron Kay ("Pieman") continues to inspire a new generation of pie-throwers (of mushroom pies) against establishment figures. Another Yippie, A.J. Weberman, deconstructs the poetry of Bob Dylan, unmasks neo-Nazis, and speculates about the tramps on the Grassy Knoll through his various websites. Chapters outside of New York may still be active. There are people who identify as Yippies scattered around the country. They are not part of the official 501(c)3 corporation and not recognized by New York. In 2004, the Yippies, along with the National AIDS Brigade, purchased their 9 Bleeker Street headquarters for $1.2 million. [9] It has since been converted into the "Yippie Museum Cafe" and houses an independently operated cafe that features live music on scheduled nights (No alcohol served or permitted on premises). The museum is, according to curator A.J. Weberman, "...chartered by the Board of Regents of New York State [10] and exists to preserve the history of the Youth International Party and all of its offshoots."
See also
References
- ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419101355/pg_2
- ^ Todd Gitlin, The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage p.286
- ^ The New Yippie Book Collective (eds.), Blacklisted News: Secret Histories from Chicago to 1984, page 459. Bleecker Publishing, 1983.
- ^ The New Yippie Book Collective (eds.), Blacklisted News: Secret Histories from Chicago to 1984, page 457. Bleecker Publishing, 1983.
- ^ Ibid.,p.238
- ^ Ibid., p.235
- ^ Ibid., pp.421-422
- ^ Judith Clavir Albert and Stewart Edward Albert (eds.) The Sixties Papers: Documents of a Rebellious Decade (Connecticut, 1984)p.402
- ^ New York Sun, 16 March 2006; "Yippies Apply for a Piece of Establishment"
- ^ NY Board of Regents - Charter Applications for March 2006
- Todd Gitlin The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage (New York, 1993)
- Judith Clavir Albert and Stewart Edward Albert (eds.) The Sixties Papers: Documents of a Rebellious Decade (Connecticut, 1984)
- James Miller “Democracy is in the Streets:” From Port Huron to the Siege of Chicago (New York, 1987)
External links
References and further reading
- Stew Albert's Yippie Reading Room!
- Pieman's Homepage (Aron Kay)
- Abbie Hoffman's Wakeup Amerika
- Yippie Speakers Bureau
- Cures not Wars
- Deoxyribonucleic Yippie!
- The Chicago Seven Trial
- Archive of the YIPL and TAP Newsletters
- Acidtrip.com compiled by AJ Weberman
- A 10 minute documentary on the Yippies, created as a National History Day entry.
- Flags of the World - Listing for the Youth International Party Flag
- The Villager - Article on Yippie Museum project
- The Yippie Revolution
- Vancouver Yippie
- Yippie Museum (Official Website)
