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Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Yippies

The Yippies were a highly theatrical political activist group established in 1967 - Abbie Hoffman, Anita Hoffman and Paul Krassner were among its early founders. The term is a backronym - it was conceived by Krassner as a whimsical play on "hippies"; later the acronym Youth International Party was applied to have the group taken more seriously. The Yippies are fascinating - click here for story and links. For a short video, click here. In 1972 The Yipster Times was started by Dana Beal; in 1973 the Yippies moved into the building at 9 Bleecker Street where The Yipster Times (later Overthrow) was published - the photo above shows the original sign. Beal still lives in the building which is being converted into a museum after a fight against eviction (read about the future plans here). I was fortunate to get a tour of the ground floor - see more photos here of the interior and exterior. The building has continued as a locus for activism over the years - some Yippies still remain. Currently Beal and the organization Cures Not Wars are crusading for the legalization of Ibogaine and its use for heroin addiction. I'm amazed at the tenacity of this group ...

3 comments:

Ruth said...

That is very interesting. I had no idea there was a trace of yippie-dom left. How old is Beal, I wonder?

Brian said...

Check out his bio in the provided link. He was born in 1947 - he will 60 in January.
Brian

Ruth said...

Yep, as soon as I submitted my comment it dawned on me that you had provided a bio. Thanks.