162-600: The Mantra-Rock Dance was a counterculture music event held on January 29 , 1967, at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. It was organized by followers of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) as an opportunity for its founder, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada , to address a wider public. It was also a promotional and fundraising effort for their first center on
324-506: A Vaishnava sannyasi and some of his New York followers objecting to what they saw as an inappropriate invitation of their guru to a place full of "amplified guitars, pounding drums, wild light shows, and hundreds of drugged hippies," Prabhupada agreed to travel from New York to San Francisco and take part in the event. Using their acquaintance with Rock Scully , manager of the Grateful Dead , and Sam Andrew , founding member and guitarist of
486-713: A counterculture that was fascinated with his homeland and open to new forms of "consciousness-expanding spirituality." After establishing his first American temple in New York City at 26 Second Avenue, Prabhupada requested his early follower Mukunda Das and his wife Janaki Dasi to open a similar ISKCON center on the West Coast of the United States . Mukunda and Janaki met up with friends from college, who would later come to be known as Shyamasundar Das, Gurudas, Malati Dasi , and Yamuna Dasi. Teaming up with them, Mukunda rented
648-1188: A pacifism orientation, naturism , etc, ...". In 1968, in Carrara , Italy the International of Anarchist Federations was founded during an international anarchist conference held there in 1968 by the three existing European federations of France , the Italian and the Iberian Anarchist Federation as well as the Bulgarian federation in French exile. During the events of May 68 the anarchist groups active in France were Fédération Anarchiste , Mouvement communiste libertaire, Union fédérale des anarchistes, Alliance ouvrière anarchiste, Union des groupes anarchistes communistes, Noir et Rouge, Confédération nationale du travail , Union anarcho-syndicaliste, Organisation révolutionnaire anarchiste, Cahiers socialistes libertaires , À contre-courant , La Révolution prolétarienne , and
810-478: A "beautiful night". Later Ginsberg called the Mantra-Rock Dance "the height of Haight-Ashbury spiritual enthusiasm, the first time that there had been a music scene in San Francisco where everybody could be part of it and participate," while historians referred to it as "the ultimate high" and "the major spiritual event of the San Francisco hippy era." Moby Grape's performance at the Mantra-Rock Dance catapulted
972-564: A B.A in English and American Literature. According to The Poetry Foundation, Ginsberg spent several months in a mental institution after he pleaded insanity during a hearing. He was allegedly being prosecuted for harboring stolen goods in his dorm room. It was noted that the stolen property was not his, but belonged to an acquaintance. Ginsberg also took part in public readings at the Episcopal St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery which would later hold
1134-579: A bookstore in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, a few months before his death. In 1993, Ginsberg visited the University of Maine at Orono to pay homage to the 90-year-old great Carl Rakosi . In 1950, Kerouac began studying Buddhism and shared what he learned from Dwight Goddard's Buddhist Bible with Ginsberg. Ginsberg first heard about the Four Noble Truths and such sutras as
1296-514: A chance encounter on a New York City street with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (they both tried to catch the same cab), a Kagyu and Nyingma Tibetan Buddhist master, led to Trungpa becoming his friend and lifelong teacher. Ginsberg helped Trungpa and New York poet Anne Waldman in founding the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado . Ginsberg
1458-409: A decline of the suit and especially of the wearing of hats; other changes included the normalisation of long hair worn down for women (as well as many men at the time), the popularization of traditional African, Indian and Middle Eastern styles of dress (including the wearing of natural hair for those of African descent), the invention and popularization of the miniskirt which raised hemlines above
1620-436: A friendship with Ginsberg. Friendship with Kerouac or Burroughs might also apply, but both writers later strove to disassociate themselves from the name " Beat Generation ." Part of their dissatisfaction with the term came from the mistaken identification of Ginsberg as the leader. Ginsberg never claimed to be the leader of a movement. He claimed that many of the writers with whom he had become friends in this period shared many of
1782-527: A letter to Ginsberg on a sheet of toilet paper. Baraka's independent publishing house Totem Press published Ginsberg's early work. Through a party organized by Baraka, Ginsberg was introduced to Langston Hughes while Ornette Coleman played saxophone. Later in his life, Ginsberg formed a bridge between the beat movement of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s, befriending, among others, Timothy Leary , Ken Kesey , Hunter S. Thompson , and Bob Dylan . Ginsberg gave his last public reading at Booksmith ,
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#17328560351891944-464: A memorial service for him after his death. Ginsberg referred to his parents in a 1985 interview as "old-fashioned delicatessen philosophers". His mother was also an active member of the Communist Party and took Ginsberg and his brother Eugene to party meetings. Ginsberg later said that his mother "made up bedtime stories that all went something like: 'The good king rode forth from his castle, saw
2106-658: A mental hospital; she would spend much of Ginsberg's youth in mental hospitals. His experiences with his mother and her mental illness were a major inspiration for his two major works, " Howl " and his long autobiographical poem " Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg (1894–1956) ". When he was in junior high school, he accompanied his mother by bus to her therapist. The trip deeply disturbed Ginsberg—he mentioned it and other moments from his childhood in "Kaddish". His experiences with his mother's mental illness and her institutionalization are also frequently referred to in "Howl." For example, "Pilgrim State, Rockland, and Grey Stone's foetid halls"
2268-512: A mutual friend, Carl Solomon , to whom he later dedicated his most famous poem "Howl." This poem is considered an autobiography of Ginsberg up to 1955, and a brief history of the Beat Generation through its references to his relationship to other Beat artists of that time. In 1948, in an apartment in East Harlem , Ginsberg experienced an auditory hallucination while masturbating and reading
2430-436: A narcotic , and the attachment of severe criminal penalties for its use, drove the act of smoking marijuana, and experimentation with substances in general, deep underground. Many began to live largely clandestine lives because of their choice to use such drugs and substances, fearing retribution from their governments. The confrontations between college students (and other activists) and law enforcement officials became one of
2592-490: A number of men, including Peter Orlovsky , his lifelong partner. Judge Clayton W. Horn ruled that "Howl" was not obscene, asking: "Would there be any freedom of press or speech if one must reduce his vocabulary to vapid innocuous euphemisms?" Ginsberg was a Buddhist who extensively studied Eastern religious disciplines . He lived modestly, buying his clothing in second-hand stores and residing in apartments in New York City's East Village . One of his most influential teachers
2754-457: A potential that existed outside the strict conformist confines of post–World War II, McCarthy -era America. Ginsberg and Carr talked excitedly about a "New Vision" (a phrase adapted from Yeats' "A Vision"), for literature and America. Carr also introduced Ginsberg to Neal Cassady , for whom Ginsberg had a long infatuation. In the first chapter of his 1957 novel On the Road Kerouac described
2916-460: A rethinking of the direction of the United States and other democratic societies . Post-war affluence allowed much of the counterculture generation to move beyond the provision of the material necessities of life that had preoccupied their Depression-era parents. The era was also notable in that a significant portion of the array of behaviors and "causes" within the larger movement were quickly assimilated within mainstream society, particularly in
3078-730: A rift of dissent within the establishment. In the UK, the Profumo affair also involved establishment leaders being caught in deception, leading to disillusionment and serving as a catalyst for liberal activism. The Cuban Missile Crisis , which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in October 1962, was largely fomented by duplicitous speech and actions on the part of the Soviet Union. The assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in November 1963, and
3240-399: A song in praise of Lord Krishna on William F. Buckley, Jr. 's TV show Firing Line on September 3, 1968, Buckley acceded and the poet chanted slowly as he played dolefully on a harmonium. According to Richard Brookhiser , an associate of Buckley's, the host commented that it was "the most unharried Krishna I've ever heard." At the 1967 Human Be-In in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park,
3402-459: A state of ecstasy. He was glad that Bhaktivedanta Swami, an authentic swami from India, was now trying to spread the chanting in America. Along with other counterculture ideologists like Timothy Leary , Gary Snyder , and Alan Watts , Ginsberg hoped to incorporate Bhaktivedanta Swami and his chanting into the hippie movement, and agreed to take part in the Mantra-Rock Dance concert and to introduce
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#17328560351893564-601: A storefront in the San Francisco Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, which at that time was turning into the hub of the hippie counterculture, and stayed to take care of the developing new center. To raise funds, gain supporters for the new temple, and to popularize Prabhupada's teachings among the hippie and countercultural audience of the Haight-Ashbury scene, the team decided to hold a charitable rock concert and invited Prabhupada to attend. Despite his position as
3726-639: A very parched collective mind." Tom McGrath wrote: "This could well turn out to have been a very significant moment in the history of England—or at least in the history of English Poetry." Soon after the bookshop reading, plans were hatched for the International Poetry Incarnation , which was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on June 11, 1965. The event attracted an audience of 7,000, who heard readings and live and tape performances by
3888-494: A viable alternative to drugs. As the Hare Krishna movement's popularity with the Haight-Ashbury community continued to increase, Prabhupada and followers chanting and distributing prasad became a customary sight at important events in the locale. At the same time, as the core group of his followers continued to expand and become more serious about the spiritual discipline, Prabhupada conducted new Vaishnava initiations and named
4050-429: A while during the burgeoning Beat generation's period of development. As a Barnard student, Elise Cowen extensively read the poetry of Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot , when she met Joyce Johnson and Leo Skir, among other Beat players. As Cowen had felt a strong attraction to darker poetry most of the time, Beat poetry seemed to provide an allure to what suggests a shadowy side of her persona. While at Barnard, Cowen earned
4212-472: A wide variety of figures, including Ginsberg, Adrian Mitchell , Alexander Trocchi , Harry Fainlight , Anselm Hollo , Christopher Logue , George MacBeth , Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti , Michael Horovitz , Simon Vinkenoog , Spike Hawkins and Tom McGrath . The event was organized by Ginsberg's friend, the filmmaker Barbara Rubin . Peter Whitehead documented the event on film and released it as Wholly Communion . A book featuring images from
4374-452: A widened area of consciousness, love and sexual experimentation as more worthy of their attention than entering the rat race. The straight, consumerist lifestyle was not to their liking, but they did not object to others living it. But at that time the middle classes still felt they had the right to impose their values on everyone else, which resulted in conflict." In the Netherlands, Provo
4536-499: A year at a time in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Benares (Varanasi). On his road to India he stayed two months in Athens ( August 29, 1961 – October 31, 1961) where he visited various sites such as Delphi , Mycines , Crete , and then continued his journey to Israel , Kenya and finally India . Also during this time, he formed friendships with some of the prominent young Bengali poets of
4698-559: A year-long stay in the country; Aboriginal activist Cheryl Buchanan (who was active in the 1972 setup of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy ; and later partner of poet and activist Lionel Fogarty ) and radical scientist Alan Roberts (1925–2017 ) on global warming —and ongoing coverage of cultural trailblazers such as the Australian Performing Group (aka Pram Factory ), and emerging Australian filmmakers. The Digger
4860-608: Is a reference to institutions frequented by his mother and Carl Solomon , ostensibly the subject of the poem: Pilgrim State Hospital and Rockland State Hospital in New York and Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey . This is followed soon by the line "with mother finally ******." Ginsberg later admitted the deletion was the expletive "fucked." He also says of Solomon in section three, "I'm with you in Rockland where you imitate
5022-508: Is associated with college campus mass protests and radical leftist movements. The British "New Left" was an intellectually driven movement that attempted to correct the perceived errors of " Old Left " parties in the post–World War II period. The movements began to wind down in the 1970s, when activists either committed themselves to party projects, developed social justice organizations, moved into identity politics or alternative lifestyles , or became politically inactive. The emergence of
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5184-481: Is documented by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami in his biographical account Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta . Ginsberg donated money, materials, and his reputation to help the Swami establish the first temple, and toured with him to promote his cause. Despite disagreeing with many of Bhaktivedanta Swami's required prohibitions , Ginsberg often sang the Hare Krishna mantra publicly as part of his philosophy and declared that it brought
5346-433: Is not only a biography of Ginsberg's experiences before 1955, but also a history of the Beat Generation. Ginsberg also later claimed that at the core of "Howl" were his unresolved emotions about his schizophrenic mother. Though "Kaddish" deals more explicitly with his mother, "Howl" in many ways is driven by the same emotions. "Howl" chronicles the development of many important friendships throughout Ginsberg's life. He begins
5508-545: The San Francisco Oracle , a local underground newspaper specializing in alternative spiritual and psychedelic topics. He wrote: The Haight-Ashbury district is soon to be honored by the presence of His Holiness, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, who will conduct daily classes in the Bhagavad Gita, discussions, chanting, playing instruments, and devotional dancing in a small temple in the neighborhood. ... Swamiji's use of
5670-511: The "Bloody Sunday" event of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches , and graphic news footage from Vietnam brought horrifying, moving images of the bloody reality of armed conflict into living rooms for the first time. The breakdown of enforcement of the US Hays Code concerning censorship in motion picture production, the use of new forms of artistic expression in European and Asian cinema, and
5832-535: The 1971 Bangladeshi genocide , exemplifying what literary critic Helen Vendler described as Ginsberg's persistent opposition to "imperial politics" and the "persecution of the powerless". His collection The Fall of America shared the annual National Book Award for Poetry in 1974. In 1979, he received the National Arts Club gold medal and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters . He
5994-481: The American Dream . Many key movements related to these issues were born or advanced within the counterculture of the 1960s. As the era unfolded, what emerged were new cultural forms and a dynamic subculture that celebrated experimentation, individuality, modern incarnations of Bohemianism , and the rise of the hippie and other alternative lifestyles . This embrace of experimentation is particularly notable in
6156-564: The Big Brother and the Holding Company – who were among the most prominent rock bands in California at the time – Shyamasundar and Gurudas secured their consent to perform for charity at the concert, charging only the "musicians' union minimum" of $ 250. Malati Dasi happened to hear Moby Grape , a relatively unknown group at the time, and she convinced the other team members to invite
6318-624: The Diamond Sutra at this time. Ginsberg's endorsement helped establish the Krishna movement within New York's bohemian culture. Ginsberg's spiritual journey began early on with his spontaneous visions, and continued with an early trip to India with Gary Snyder . Snyder had previously spent time in Kyoto to study at the First Zen Institute at Daitoku-ji Monastery. At one point, Snyder chanted
6480-505: The Hare Krishna mantra , which he had learned in India. He made the mantra part of his philosophy and declared that it "brings a state of ecstasy." He was glad that Prabhupada, an authentic swami from India, was now trying to spread the chanting in America. Along with other countercultural ideologues like Timothy Leary , Gary Snyder , and Alan Watts , Ginsberg hoped to incorporate Prabhupada and
6642-575: The Hog Farm , Quarry Hill , and Drop City in the US were established as straightforward agrarian attempts to return to the land and live free of interference from outside influences. As the era progressed, many people established and populated new communities in response to not only disillusionment with standard community forms, but also dissatisfaction with certain elements of the counterculture itself. Some of these self-sustaining communities have been credited with
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6804-528: The Hungryalist poets of Bengal , especially Malay Roy Choudhury, who introduced Ginsberg to the three fish with one head of Indian emperor Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar . The three fish symbolised coexistence of all thought, philosophy, and religion. In spite of Ginsberg's attraction to Eastern religions, the journalist Jane Kramer argues that he, like Whitman, adhered to an "American brand of mysticism" that
6966-590: The Mantra-Rock Dance , a musical event 1967 held at the Avalon Ballroom by the San Francisco Hare Krishna temple. It featured some leading rock bands of the time: Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin , the Grateful Dead , and Moby Grape , who performed there along with the Hare Krishna founder Bhaktivedanta Swami and donated proceeds to the Krishna temple. Ginsberg introduced Bhaktivedanta Swami to some three thousand hippies in
7128-1011: The Merchant Marine to earn money to continue his education at Columbia. While at Columbia, Ginsberg contributed to the Columbia Review literary journal, the Jester humor magazine, won the Woodberry Poetry Prize, served as president of the Philolexian Society (literary and debate group), and joined Boar's Head Society (poetry society). He was a resident of Hartley Hall , where other Beat Generation poets such as Jack Kerouac and Herbert Gold also lived. Ginsberg has stated that he considered his required freshman seminar in Great Books, taught by Lionel Trilling , to be his favorite Columbia course. In 1948, he graduated from Columbia with
7290-917: The Partial Test Ban Treaty which prohibited atmospheric nuclear testing. Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg ( / ˈ ɡ ɪ n z b ɜːr ɡ / ; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr , William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac , forming the core of the Beat Generation . He vigorously opposed militarism , economic materialism , and sexual repression , and he embodied various aspects of this counterculture with his views on drugs, sex, multiculturalism , hostility to bureaucracy , and openness to Eastern religions . Best known for his poem " Howl ", Ginsberg denounced what he saw as
7452-599: The Paterson Morning Call . While in high school, Ginsberg became interested in the works of Walt Whitman , inspired by his teacher's passionate reading. In 1943, Ginsberg graduated from Eastside High School and briefly attended Montclair State College before entering Columbia University on a scholarship from the Young Men's Hebrew Association of Paterson. Ginsberg intended to study law at Columbia but later changed his major to literature . In 1945, he joined
7614-673: The Prajnaparamita , which in Ginsberg's words "blew my mind." His interest piqued, Ginsberg traveled to meet the Dalai Lama as well as the Karmapa at Rumtek Monastery. Continuing on his journey, Ginsberg met Dudjom Rinpoche in Kalimpong , who taught him: "If you see something horrible, don't cling to it, and if you see something beautiful, don't cling to it." After returning to the United States,
7776-551: The South Bronx as a means to validate Puerto Rican experience in the United States, particularly for poor and working-class people who suffered from marginalization , ostracism, and discrimination. Young Cuban exiles in the United States would develop interests in Cuban identity, and politics. This younger generation had experienced the United States during the rising anti-war movement , civil rights movement , and feminist movement of
7938-470: The Vietnam War began in 1964 on United States college campuses. Student activism became a dominant theme among the baby boomers, growing to include many other demographic groups. Exemptions and deferments for the middle and upper classes resulted in the induction of a disproportionate number of poor, working-class, and minority registrants. Countercultural books such as MacBird by Barbara Garson and much of
8100-455: The Vietnam War that same year, it became revolutionary to some. As the movement progressed, widespread social tensions also developed concerning other issues, and tended to flow along generational lines regarding respect for the individual , human sexuality , women's rights , traditional modes of authority , rights of people of color , end of racial segregation, experimentation with psychoactive drugs , and differing interpretations of
8262-474: The West Coast of the United States . The Mantra-Rock Dance featured some of the most prominent Californian rock groups of the time, such as the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin , as well as the then relatively unknown Moby Grape . The bands agreed to appear with Prabhupada and to perform for free; the proceeds were donated to the local Hare Krishna temple. The participation of countercultural leaders considerably boosted
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#17328560351898424-472: The concert film Gimme Shelter , Medium Cool , Zabriskie Point and Punishment Park . By the later 1960s, previously under-regarded FM radio replaced AM radio as the focal point for the ongoing explosion of rock and roll music, and became the nexus of youth-oriented news and advertising for the counterculture generation. Communes , collectives , and intentional communities regained popularity during this era. Early communities such as
8586-399: The fire escape of the apartment and then at the sky, he intuited that one had been crafted by human beings, while the other had been crafted by itself. He explained that this hallucination was not inspired by drug use, but said he sought to recapture the feeling of interconnectedness later with various drugs. Ginsberg moved to San Francisco during the 1950s. Before Howl and Other Poems
8748-551: The nuclear weapons policy since before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. The public became concerned about nuclear weapons testing from about 1954, following extensive nuclear testing in the Pacific . In 1961 and 1962, at the height of the Cold War , about 50,000 women brought together by Women Strike for Peace marched in 60 cities in the United States to demonstrate against nuclear weapons . In 1963, many countries ratified
8910-486: The " Sponti " movement and other leftist groups. In the late summer of 1968, the commune moved into a deserted factory on Stephanstraße to reorient. This second phase of Kommune 1 was characterized by sex, music and drugs. Soon, the commune was receiving visitors from all over the world, including Jimi Hendrix . Mánička is a Czech term used for young people with long hair, usually males, in Czechoslovakia through
9072-469: The "old school" political left either ignored or denounced them. According to ABC News , "The group was known for street theater pranks and was once referred to as the ' Groucho Marxists '." In Trafalgar Square , London in 1958, in an act of civil disobedience , 60,000–100,000 protesters made up of students and pacifists converged in what was to become the " ban the Bomb " demonstrations. Opposition to
9234-609: The 1960s and 1970s. Anarchism was influential in the counterculture of the 1960s and anarchists actively participated in the late 1960s students and workers revolts . During the IX Congress of the Italian Anarchist Federation in Carrara in 1965, a group decided to split off from this organization and created the Gruppi di Iniziativa Anarchica . In the 1970s, it was mostly composed of "veteran individualist anarchists with
9396-641: The 1960s and 1970s. Long hair for males during this time was considered an expression of political and social attitudes in communist Czechoslovakia . From the mid-1960s, the long-haired and "untidy" persons (so called máničky or vlasatci (in English: Mops ) were banned from entering pubs, cinema halls, theatres and using public transportation in several Czech cities and towns. In 1964, the public transportation regulations in Most and Litvínov excluded long-haired máničky as displeasure-evoking persons. Two years later,
9558-858: The 1960s, also called the Chicano civil rights movement, was a civil rights movement extending the Mexican-American civil rights movement of the 1960s with the stated goal of achieving Mexican American empowerment. The American Indian Movement (or AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement that was founded in July 1968 in Minneapolis , Minnesota. A.I.M. was initially formed in urban areas to address systemic issues of poverty and police brutality against Native Americans. A.I.M. soon widened its focus from urban issues to include many Indigenous Tribal issues that Native American groups have faced due to settler colonialism of
9720-447: The 1960s, causing them to be influenced by radicals that encouraged political introspection, and social justice. Figures like Fidel Castro and Che Guevara were also heavily praised among American student radicals at the time. These factors helped push some young Cubans into advocating for different degrees of rapprochement with Cuba. Those most likely to become more radical were Cubans who were more culturally isolated from being outside
9882-429: The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the 1970 Black Panther rally at Yale campus Allen chanted "Om" repeatedly over a sound system for hours on end. Ginsberg further brought mantras into the world of rock and roll when he recited the Heart Sutra in the song " Ghetto Defendant ". The song appears on the 1982 album Combat Rock by British first wave punk band The Clash . Ginsberg came in touch with
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#173285603518910044-473: The 1970s, Ginsberg had two minor strokes which were first diagnosed as Bell's palsy , which gave him significant paralysis and stroke-like drooping of the muscles in one side of his face. Later in life, he also had constant minor ailments such as high blood pressure . Many of these symptoms were related to stress, but he never slowed down his schedule. Ginsberg won a 1974 National Book Award for The Fall of America (split with Adrienne Rich , Diving into
10206-480: The Americas, such as treaty rights , high rates of unemployment, education, cultural continuity, and preservation of Indigenous cultures. The Asian American movement was a sociopolitical movement in which the widespread grassroots effort of Asian Americans affected racial, social and political change in the US, reaching its peak in the late 1960s to mid-1970s. During this period Asian Americans promoted antiwar and anti-imperialist activism, directly opposing what
10368-496: The Beat Generation in a broader sense. Ginsberg's mentor William Carlos Williams wrote an introductory letter to San Francisco Renaissance figurehead Kenneth Rexroth , who then introduced Ginsberg into the San Francisco poetry scene. There, Ginsberg also met three budding poets and Zen enthusiasts who had become friends at Reed College : Gary Snyder , Philip Whalen , and Lew Welch . In 1959, along with poets John Kelly, Bob Kaufman , A. D. Winans , and William Margolis, Ginsberg
10530-460: The Beat Generation, and his own political views, "Howl," his most famous poem, is still perhaps the best place to start. In 1957, Ginsberg surprised the literary world by abandoning San Francisco. After a spell in Morocco , he and Peter Orlovsky joined Gregory Corso in Paris. Corso introduced them to a shabby lodging house above a bar at 9 rue Gît-le-Cœur that was to become known as the Beat Hotel . They were soon joined by Burroughs and others. It
10692-417: The Cuban enclave of Miami. Much of the 1960s counterculture originated on college campuses. The 1964 Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley, which had its roots in the Civil Rights Movement of the southern United States, was one early example. At Berkeley a group of students began to identify themselves as having interests as a class that were at odds with the interests and practices of
10854-555: The Dalai Lama, Tibetologists, and students were "guided by Allen's extensive notes on the contact sheets and images he'd circled with the intention to print." In 1960, he was treated for a tropical disease , and it is speculated that he contracted hepatitis from an unsterilized needle administered by a doctor, which played a role in his death 37 years later. Ginsberg was a lifelong smoker, and though he tried to quit for health and religious reasons, his busy schedule in later life made it difficult, and he always returned to smoking. In
11016-460: The Hare Krishna Mantra is already known throughout the United States. Swamiji's chanting and dancing is more effective than Hatha or Raja Yoga or listening to Ali Akbar Khan on acid or going to a mixed media rock dance. Ginsberg helped plan and organize a reception for Prabhupada, who was scheduled to arrive from New York on January 17 , 1967. When the swami arrived at the San Francisco Airport , 50 to 100 hippies chanting "Hare Krishna" greeted him in
11178-419: The Hare Krishna movement to the wider attention of the American public. The 40th anniversary of the Mantra-Rock Dance was commemorated in 2007 in Berkeley , California. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (also referred to as "Bhaktivedanta Swami" or "Prabhupada"), a Gaudiya Vaishnava sannyasi and teacher, arrived in New York City from his native India in 1965 and "caught the powerful rising tide" of
11340-752: The Mantra-Rock Dance audience: Almost everyone who came wore bright or unusual costumes: tribal robes, Mexican ponchos, Indian kurtas , "God's-eyes," feathers, and beads. Some hippies brought their own flutes, lutes, gourds, drums, rattles, horns, and guitars. The Hell's Angels, dirty-haired, wearing jeans, boots, and denim jackets and accompanied by their women, made their entrance, carrying chains, smoking cigarettes, and displaying their regalia of German helmets, emblazoned emblems, and so on – everything but their motorcycles, which they had parked outside. The evening opened with Prabhupada's followers – men in "Merlin gowns" and women in saris – chanting Hare Krishna to an Indian tune, followed by Moby Grape. When
11502-441: The Mantra-Rock Dance made such a deep impact on the Haight-Ashbury community that he became a cult hero to most of its groups and members, regardless of their attitudes towards his philosophy or the life restrictions that he taught. The Hare Krishna mantra and dancing became adopted in some ways by all levels of the counterculture, including the Hells Angels, and provided it with a "loose commonality" and reconciliation, as well as with
11664-567: The Mantra-Rock Dance was held at the People's Park in Berkeley , California. 37°47′16″N 122°25′16″W / 37.78778°N 122.42111°W / 37.78778; -122.42111 Counterculture of the 1960s The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement that developed in the Western world during the mid-20th century. It began in
11826-565: The New Left in the 1950s and 1960s led to a revival of interest in libertarian socialism . The New Left's critique of the Old Left 's authoritarianism was associated with a strong interest in personal liberty, autonomy (see the thinking of Cornelius Castoriadis ) and led to a rediscovery of older socialist traditions, such as left communism , council communism , and the Industrial Workers of
11988-526: The Pony Stable Bar. Corso, recently released from prison, was supported by the Pony Stable patrons and was writing poetry there the night of their meeting. Ginsberg claims he was immediately attracted to Corso, who was straight, but understood homosexuality after three years in prison. Ginsberg was even more struck by reading Corso's poems, realizing Corso was "spiritually gifted." Ginsberg introduced Corso to
12150-450: The San Francisco temple "New Jagannatha Puri " after introducing the worship of Jagannath deities of Krishna there. Small replicas of these deities immediately became a "psychedelic hit" worn by many hippies on strings around their necks. Since the Mantra-Rock Dance brought the Hare Krishna movement to the wider attention of the American public, Prabhupada's increased popularity attracted
12312-502: The South by white-dominated state government , and ongoing racial discrimination in jobs, housing, and access to public places in both the North and the South. On college and university campuses, student activists fought for the right to exercise their basic constitutional rights, especially freedom of speech and freedom of assembly . Many counterculture activists became aware of the plight of
12474-422: The US, even though counterculture participants numbered in the clear minority within their respective national populations. The Cold War between communist and capitalist states involved espionage and preparation for war between powerful nations, along with political and military interference by powerful states in the internal affairs of less powerful nations. Poor outcomes from some of these activities set
12636-761: The US, the social tension between elements of the counterculture and law enforcement reached the breaking point in many notable cases, including: the Columbia University protests of 1968 in New York City, the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago, the arrest and imprisonment of John Sinclair in Ann Arbor, Michigan , and the Kent State shootings at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, where National Guardsman acted as surrogates for police. Police malfeasance
12798-453: The United States , and transnational solidarity with peoples around the globe impacted by U.S. militarism ." and intellectual movement involving poets, writers, musicians and artists who are Puerto Rican or of Puerto-Rican descent, who live in or near New York City, and either call themselves or are known as Nuyoricans . It originated in the late 1960s and early 1970s in neighborhoods such as Loisaida , East Harlem , Williamsburg , and
12960-476: The Western world, effectively united millions against the war, and against the war policy that prevailed under five US congresses and during two presidential administrations. The counterculture movement took hold in Western Europe, with London, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome and Milan, Copenhagen and West Berlin rivaling San Francisco and New York as counterculture centers. The UK Underground was a movement linked to
13122-589: The World . The New Left also led to a revival of anarchism. Journals like Radical America and Black Mask in America, Solidarity , Big Flame and Democracy & Nature , succeeded by The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy , in the UK, introduced a range of left libertarian ideas to a new generation. Social ecology , autonomism and, more recently, participatory economics (parecon), and Inclusive Democracy emerged from this. A surge of popular interest in anarchism occurred in western nations during
13284-691: The Wreck ). In 1986, Ginsberg was awarded the Golden Wreath by the Struga Poetry Evenings International Festival in Macedonia, the second American poet to be so awarded since W. H. Auden . At Struga, Ginsberg met with the other Golden Wreath winners, Bulat Okudzhava and Andrei Voznesensky . In 1989, Ginsberg appeared in Rosa von Praunheim 's award-winning film Silence = Death about
13446-462: The advent of modern production values heralded a new era of art-house , pornographic, and mainstream film production, distribution, and exhibition. The end of censorship resulted in a complete reformation of the western film industry. With new-found artistic freedom, a generation of exceptionally talented New Wave film makers working across all genres brought realistic depictions of previously prohibited subject matter to neighborhood theater screens for
13608-609: The airport lounge with flowers. A few days later the San Francisco Chronicle published an article entitled "Swami in the Hippie Land" in which Prabhupada answered the question, "Do you accept hippies in your temple?" by saying, "Hippies or anyone – I make no distinctions. Everyone is welcome." The Mantra-Rock Dance was scheduled on Sunday evening, January 29 , 1967 – a day of the week that Chet Helms deemed odd and unlikely to generate substantial attendance. Admission
13770-452: The assistance of the state police. On August 19, 1966, during a "safety intervention" organized by the state police, 140 long-haired people were arrested. As a response, the "community of long-haired" organized a protest in Prague . More than 100 people cheered slogans such as "Give us back our hair!" or "Away with hairdressers!". The state police arrested the organizers and several participants of
13932-412: The associated massive expansion of consumerism afforded by post-war affluence and encouraged by TV advertising—were key components in creating disillusionment for some younger people and in the formulation of new social behaviours, even as ad agencies heavily courted the "hip" youth market. In the US, nearly real-time TV news coverage of the civil rights movement era's 1963 Birmingham Campaign ,
14094-424: The attendant theories concerning the event, led to further diminished trust in government, including among younger people. Many social issues fueled the growth of the larger counterculture movement. One was a nonviolent movement in the United States seeking to resolve constitutional civil rights illegalities, especially regarding general racial segregation , longstanding disfranchisement of Black people in
14256-702: The audience and led the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra . Music and chanting were both important parts of Ginsberg's live delivery during poetry readings. He often accompanied himself on a harmonium , and was often accompanied by a guitarist. It is believed that the Hindi and Buddhist poet Nagarjun had introduced Ginsberg to the harmonium in Banaras. According to Malay Roy Choudhury , Ginsberg refined his practice while learning from his relatives, including his cousin Savitri Banerjee. When Ginsberg asked if he could sing
14418-517: The audience in dancing and singing, as the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Moby Grape joined the chanting and accompanied the mantra with their musical instruments. The audience eagerly responded, playing their own instruments and dancing in circles. The group chanting continued for almost two hours, and concluded with the swami's prayers in Sanskrit while the audience bowed down on
14580-516: The band onto the professional stage. They subsequently had gigs with The Doors at the Avalon Ballroom and at the "First Love Circus" at the Winterland Arena , and were soon signed to a contract with Columbia Records . The Mantra-Rock Dance helped raise around $ 2,000 for the temple and resulted in a massive influx of visitors at the temple's early morning services. Prabhupada's appearance at
14742-402: The band to play at the concert as well. Another leading countercultural figure, the beatnik poet Allen Ginsberg , was a supporter of Prabhupada. He had met the swami earlier in New York and assisted him in extending his United States visa. Despite disagreeing with many of Prabhupada's required prohibitions, especially the ones pertaining to drugs and promiscuity, Ginsberg often publicly sang
14904-521: The bars, in the sunlight in the window." In a letter she wrote to Ginsberg's brother Eugene, she said, "God's informers come to my bed, and God himself I saw in the sky. The sunshine showed too, a key on the side of the window for me to get out. The yellow of the sunshine, also showed the key on the side of the window." These letters and the absence of a facility to recite kaddish inspired Ginsberg to write "Kaddish", which makes references to many details from Naomi's life, Ginsberg's experiences with her, and
15066-445: The birth and propagation of the international Green Movement . The emergence of an interest in expanded spiritual consciousness, yoga , occult practices and increased human potential helped to shift views on organized religion during the era. In 1957, 69% of US residents polled by Gallup said religion was increasing in influence. By the late 1960s, polls indicated less than 20% still held that belief. The " Generation Gap ", or
15228-468: The chanting of Hare Krishna into the hippie movement. Ginsberg agreed to take part in the Mantra-Rock Dance concert and to introduce the swami to the Haight-Ashbury hippie community. As for the choice of venue, the team considered both the Fillmore Auditorium and the Avalon Ballroom , finally settling on the latter as its impresario , Chet Helms , appeared to be "more sympathetic to the spirit of
15390-429: The concert" and agreed to let it be used for a charity event. Artist Harvey Cohen, one of the first ISKCON followers, designed a Stanley Mouse -inspired promotional poster with a picture of Prabhupada, details of the event, and a request to "bring cushions, drums, bells, cymbals." To generate interest among members of the countercultural community of Haight-Ashbury, Mukunda published an article entitled "The New Science" in
15552-557: The counterculture music encouraged a spirit of non-conformism and anti-establishmentarianism. By 1968, the year after a large march to the United Nations in New York City and a large protest at the Pentagon were undertaken, a majority of people in the country opposed the war. The application of nuclear technology , both as a source of energy and as an instrument of war, has been controversial. Scientists and diplomats have debated
15714-405: The counterculture. The three-day Festival Rock y Ruedas de Avándaro , held in 1971, was organized in the valley of Avándaro near the city of Toluca , a town neighboring Mexico City, and became known as "The Mexican Woodstock". Nudity, drug use, and the presence of the US flag scandalized conservative Mexican society to such an extent that the government clamped down on rock and roll performances for
15876-453: The destructive forces of capitalism and conformity in the United States. San Francisco police and US Customs seized copies of "Howl" in 1956, and a subsequent obscenity trial in 1957 attracted widespread publicity due to the poem's language and descriptions of heterosexual and homosexual sex at a time when sodomy laws made (male) homosexual acts a crime in every state. The poem reflected Ginsberg's own sexuality and his relationships with
16038-480: The early 1960s, and continued through the early 1970s. It is often synonymous with cultural liberalism and with the various social changes of the decade. The effects of the movement have been ongoing to the present day. The aggregate movement gained momentum as the civil rights movement in the United States had made significant progress, such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , and with the intensification of
16200-478: The enduring uniform of the generation, as daily wearing of suits along with traditional Western dress codes declined in use. The fashion dominance of the counterculture effectively ended with the rise of the Disco and Punk Rock eras in the later 1970s, even as the global popularity of T-shirts, denim jeans, and casual clothing in general have continued to grow. In the western world, the ongoing criminal legal status of
16362-514: The event's popularity; among them were the poet Allen Ginsberg , who led the singing of the Hare Krishna mantra onstage along with Prabhupada, and the LSD promoters Timothy Leary and Augustus Owsley Stanley III . According to author Margaret Wilkins, the Mantra-Rock Dance concert was "the ultimate high" and "the major spiritual event of the San Francisco hippie era." It led to favorable media exposures for Prabhupada and his followers, and brought
16524-493: The fight of gay artists in New York City for AIDS-education and the rights of HIV infected people. In 1993, the French Minister of Culture appointed Ginsberg a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres . Ginsberg continued to help his friends as much as he could: he gave money to Herbert Huncke out of his own pocket, regularly supplied neighbor Arthur Russell with an extension cord to power his home recording setup, and housed
16686-457: The film and some of the poems that were performed was also published under the same title by Lorrimer in the UK and Grove Press in US. Though the term "Beat" is most accurately applied to Ginsberg and his closest friends (Corso, Orlovsky, Kerouac, Burroughs, etc.), the term "Beat Generation" has become associated with many of the other poets Ginsberg met and became friends with in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A key feature of this term seems to be
16848-482: The first time, even as Hollywood film studios were still considered a part of the establishment by some elements of the counterculture. Successful 1960s new films of the New Hollywood were Bonnie and Clyde , The Graduate , The Wild Bunch , and Dennis Hopper 's Easy Rider . Other examples of hippie modernist cinema includes experimental short films made by figures like Jordan Belson and Bruce Conner ,
17010-461: The floor. After Prabhupada left, Janis Joplin took the stage, backed by Big Brother and the Holding Company, and continued the event with the songs " The House of the Rising Sun " and " Ball 'n' Chain " late into the night. The LSD pioneer Timothy Leary , who made an appearance at the Mantra-Rock Dance along with Augustus Owsley Stanley III and even paid the entrance fee, pronounced the event
17172-403: The forefront as an increasing number of primarily younger people broke free from the constraints of 1950s orthodoxy and struggled to create a more inclusive and tolerant social landscape. The availability of new and more effective forms of birth control was a key underpinning of the sexual revolution . The notion of "recreational sex" without the threat of unwanted pregnancy radically changed
17334-533: The government fearing a repeat of the student protests of 1968. Few bands survived the prohibition, though the ones that did, like Three Souls in My Mind (now El Tri ), remained popular due in part to their adoption of Spanish for their lyrics, but mostly as a result of a dedicated underground following. While Mexican rock groups were eventually able to perform publicly by the mid-1980s, the ban prohibiting tours of Mexico by foreign acts lasted until 1989. The Cordobazo
17496-410: The growing subculture in the US and associated with the hippie phenomenon, generating its own magazines and newspapers, fashion, music groups, and clubs. Underground figure Barry Miles said, "The underground was a catch-all sobriquet for a community of like-minded anti-establishment, anti-war, pro-rock'n'roll individuals, most of whom had a common interest in recreational drugs. They saw peace, exploring
17658-458: The hallmarks of the era. Many younger people began to show deep distrust of police, and terms such as " fuzz " and "pig" as derogatory epithets for police reappeared, and became key words within the counterculture lexicon. The distrust of police was based not only on fear of police brutality during political protests, but also on generalized police corruption—especially police manufacture of false evidence, and outright entrapment, in drug cases. In
17820-406: The inevitable perceived divide in worldview between the old and young, was perhaps never greater than during the counterculture era. A large measure of the generational chasm of the 1960s and early 1970s was born of rapidly evolving fashion and hairstyle trends that were readily adopted by the young, but often misunderstood and ridiculed by the old. These included the wearing of very long hair by men,
17982-407: The interest of the mainstream media. Most notably, he was interviewed on ABC 's The Les Crane Show and lectured on the philosophy of Krishna consciousness on a KPFK radio station program hosted by Peter Bergman . Prabhupada's followers also spoke about their activities on the San Francisco radio station KFRC . On August 18, 2007, a free commemorative event dedicated to the 40th anniversary of
18144-472: The knees, as well as the development of distinguished, youth-led fashion subcultures . Styles based around jeans , for both men and women, became an important fashion movement that has continued up to the present day. Several factors distinguished the counterculture of the 1960s from anti-authoritarian movements of previous eras. The post-World War II baby boom generated an unprecedented number of potentially disaffected youth as prospective participants in
18306-402: The letter, including the lines "the key is in the light" and "the key is in the window." In Ginsberg's first year at Columbia he met fellow undergraduate Lucien Carr , who introduced him to a number of future Beat writers, including Jack Kerouac , William S. Burroughs , and John Clellon Holmes . They bonded, because they saw in one another an excitement about the potential of American youth,
18468-619: The meeting between Ginsberg and Cassady. Kerouac saw them as the dark (Ginsberg) and light (Cassady) side of their "New Vision", a perception stemming partly from Ginsberg's association with communism, of which Kerouac had become increasingly distrustful. Though Ginsberg was never a member of the Communist Party, Kerouac named him "Carlo Marx" in On the Road . This was a source of strain in their relationship. Also, in New York, Ginsberg met Gregory Corso in
18630-572: The meeting. Some of them were given prison sentences. According to the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes , the Czechoslovak Ministry of Interior in 1966 even compiled a detailed map of the frequency of occurrence of long-haired males in Czechoslovakia. In August 1969, during the first anniversary of the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia , the long-haired youth were one of the most active voices in
18792-669: The most important events in Beat mythos, known simply as "The Six Gallery reading " took place on October 7, 1955. The event, in essence, brought together the East and West Coast factions of the Beat Generation . Of more personal significance to Ginsberg, the reading that night included the first public presentation of "Howl," a poem that brought worldwide fame to Ginsberg and to many of the poets associated with him. An account of that night can be found in Kerouac's novel The Dharma Bums , describing how change
18954-463: The municipal council in Poděbrady banned máničky from entering cultural institutions in the town. In August 1966, Rudé právo informed that máničky in Prague were banned from visiting restaurants of the I. and II. price category. In 1966, during a big campaign coordinated by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia , around 4,000 young males were forced to cut their hair, often in the cells with
19116-650: The nature of the 1960 U-2 incident resulted in the government being caught in a blatant lie at the highest levels, and contributed to a backdrop of growing distrust of authority among many who came of age during the period. The Partial Test Ban Treaty divided the establishment within the US along political and military lines. Internal political disagreements concerning treaty obligations in Southeast Asia ( SEATO ), especially in Vietnam , and debate as to how other communist insurgencies should be challenged, also created
19278-583: The nickname "Beat Alice" as she had joined a small group of anti-establishment artists and visionaries known to outsiders as beatniks, and one of her first acquaintances at the college was the beat poet Joyce Johnson who later portrayed Cowen in her books, including "Minor Characters" and Come and Join the Dance , which expressed the two women's experiences in the Barnard and Columbia Beat community. Through his association with Elise Cowen, Ginsberg discovered that they shared
19440-619: The original English Diggers led by Gerrard Winstanley and sought to create a mini-society free of money and capitalism . On the other hand, the Yippies employed theatrical gestures, such as advancing a pig (" Pigasus the Immortal") as a candidate for president in 1968, to mock the social status quo. They have been described as a highly theatrical, anti-authoritarian and anarchist youth movement of "symbolic politics". Since they were well known for street theater and politically themed pranks, many of
19602-564: The poem with "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness", which sets the stage for Ginsberg to describe Cassady and Solomon, immortalizing them into American literature. This madness was the "angry fix" that society needed to function—madness was its disease. In the poem, Ginsberg focused on "Carl Solomon! I'm with you in Rockland", and, thus, turned Solomon into an archetypal figure searching for freedom from his "straightjacket". Though references in most of his poetry reveal much about his biography, his relationship to other members of
19764-502: The poetry of William Blake , which he later referred to as his "Blake vision". Ginsberg claimed to have heard the voice of God—also described as the "voice of the Ancient of Days "—or of Blake himself reading " Ah! Sun-flower ", " The Sick Rose " and " The Little Girl Lost ". The experience lasted several days, with him believing that he had witnessed the interconnectedness of the universe; Ginsberg recounted that after looking at latticework on
19926-407: The poor, and community organizers fought for the funding of anti-poverty programs , particularly in the South and within inner city areas in the United States. Environmentalism grew from a greater understanding of the ongoing damage caused by industrialization, resultant pollution, and the misguided use of chemicals such as pesticides in well-meaning efforts to improve the quality of life for
20088-422: The president had implanted listening devices in their home and that her mother-in-law was trying to kill her. Her suspicion of those around her caused Naomi to draw closer to young Allen, "her little pet," as Bill Morgan says in his biography of Ginsberg, titled I Celebrate Myself: The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg . She also tried to kill herself by slitting her wrists and was soon taken to Greystone ,
20250-464: The prohibition on drugs, many in the crowd were smoking marijuana and taking other intoxicants. However, the atmosphere in the hall was peaceful. Strobe lights and a psychedelic liquid light show , along with pictures of Krishna and the words of the Hare Krishna mantra, were projected onto the walls. A few Hells Angels were positioned in the back of the stage as the event's security guards. Prabhupada's biographer Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami thus describes
20412-676: The publications close to Émile Armand . The New Left in the United States also included anarchist, countercultural and hippie -related radical groups such as the Yippies who were led by Abbie Hoffman , The Diggers and Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers . By late 1966, the Diggers opened free stores which simply gave away their stock, provided free food, distributed free drugs, gave away money, organized free music concerts, and performed works of political art. The Diggers took their name from
20574-400: The rapidly growing population. Authors such as Rachel Carson played key roles in developing a new awareness among the global population of the fragility of our planet , despite resistance from elements of the establishment in many countries. The need to address minority rights of women, gay people, the disabled, and many other neglected constituencies within the larger population came to
20736-466: The recreational drug industry was instrumental in the formation of an anti-establishment social dynamic by some of those coming of age during the counterculture era. The explosion of marijuana use during the era, in large part by students on fast-expanding college campuses, created an attendant need for increasing numbers of people to conduct their personal affairs in secret in the procurement and use of banned substances. The classification of marijuana as
20898-406: The rest of his inner circle. In their first meeting at the Pony Stable, Corso showed Ginsberg a poem about a woman who lived across the street from him and sunbathed naked in the window. Amazingly, the woman happened to be Ginsberg's girlfriend that he was living with during one of his forays into heterosexuality. Ginsberg took Corso over to their apartment. There the woman proposed sex with Corso, who
21060-501: The rest of the decade. The festival, marketed as proof of Mexico's modernization, was never expected to attract the masses it did, and the government had to evacuate stranded attendees en masse at the end. This occurred during the era of President Luis Echeverría , an extremely repressive era in Mexican history. Anything that could be connected to the counterculture or student protests was prohibited from being broadcast on public airwaves, with
21222-525: The same intentions and themes. Some of these friends include: David Amram , Bob Kaufman ; Diane di Prima ; Jim Cohn ; poets associated with the Black Mountain College such as Charles Olson , Robert Creeley , and Denise Levertov ; poets associated with the New York School such as Frank O'Hara and Kenneth Koch . LeRoi Jones before he became Amiri Baraka , who, after reading "Howl", wrote
21384-542: The same struggle against the military government . The Civil Rights Movement, a key element of the larger counterculture movement, involved the use of applied nonviolence to assure that equal rights guaranteed under the US Constitution would apply to all citizens. Many states illegally denied many of these rights to African-Americans, and this was partially successfully addressed in the early and mid-1960s in several major nonviolent movements. The Chicano Movement of
21546-403: The shade of my mother," once again showing the association between Solomon and his mother. Ginsberg received a letter from his mother after her death responding to a copy of "Howl" he had sent her. It admonished Ginsberg to be good and stay away from drugs; she says, "The key is in the window, the key is in the sunlight at the window—I have the key—Get married Allen don't take drugs—the key is in
21708-440: The social dynamic and permitted both women and men much greater freedom in the selection of sexual lifestyles outside the confines of traditional marriage. With this change in attitude, by the 1990s the ratio of children born out of wedlock rose from 5% to 25% for Whites and from 25% to 66% for African-Americans. For those born after World War II , the emergence of television as a source of entertainment and information—as well as
21870-457: The stage for disillusionment with and distrust of post-war governments. Examples included harsh responses from the Soviet Union (USSR) towards popular anti-communist uprisings, such as the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Czechoslovakia 's Prague Spring in 1968; and the botched US Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba in 1961. In the US, President Dwight D. Eisenhower 's initial deception over
22032-473: The state protesting against the occupation. Youth protesters have been labeled as "vagabonds" and "slackers" by the official normalized press. Oz magazine was first published as a satirical humour magazine between 1963 and 1969 in Sydney, and, in its second and better known incarnation, became a "psychedelic hippy" magazine from 1967 to 1973 in London. Strongly identified as part of the underground press , it
22194-461: The suffering workers and healed them.'" Of his father Ginsberg said: "My father would go around the house either reciting Emily Dickinson and Longfellow under his breath or attacking T. S. Eliot for ruining poetry with his ' obscurantism .' I grew suspicious of both sides." Naomi Ginsberg had schizophrenia which often manifested as paranoid delusions , disordered thinking and multiple suicide attempts . She would claim, for example, that
22356-512: The surfer riding a wave. He glided onto the stage, sat down and began playing the kartals." Ginsberg welcomed Prabhupada onto the stage and spoke of his own experiences chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. He translated the meaning of the Sanskrit term mantra as "mind deliverance" and recommended the early-morning kirtans at the local Radha-Krishna temple "for those coming down from LSD who want to stabilize their consciousness upon reentry," calling
22518-408: The swami himself arrived at 10 PM, the crowd of hippies rose to their feet to greet him respectfully with applause and cheers. Gurudas, one of the event's organizers, describes the effect that Prabhupada's arrival had on the audience, "Then Swami Bhaktivedanta entered. He looked like a Vedic sage, exalted and otherworldly. As he advanced towards the stage, the crowd parted and made way for him, like
22680-432: The swami to the Haight-Ashbury hippie community. On January 17, 1967, Ginsberg helped plan and organize a reception for Bhaktivedanta Swami at San Francisco International Airport , where fifty to a hundred hippies greeted the Swami, chanting Hare Krishna in the airport lounge with flowers in hands. To further support and promote Bhaktivendata Swami's message and chanting in San Francisco, Allen Ginsberg agreed to attend
22842-468: The temple's activity an "important community service." He introduced Prabhupada and thanked him for leaving his peaceful life in India to bring the mantra to New York's Lower East Side , "where it was probably most needed." After a short address by Prabhupada, Ginsberg sang "Hare Krishna" to the accompaniment of sitar , tambura , and drums, requesting the audience to "[j]ust sink into the sound vibration, and think of peace." Then Prabhupada stood up and led
23004-450: The time including Shakti Chattopadhyay and Sunil Gangopadhyay . Ginsberg had several political connections in India; most notably Pupul Jayakar who helped him extend his stay in India when the authorities were eager to expel him. In May 1965, Ginsberg arrived in London, and offered to read anywhere for free. Shortly after his arrival, he gave a reading at Better Books , which was described by Jeff Nuttall as "the first healing wind on
23166-513: The university and its corporate sponsors. Other rebellious young people, who were not students, also contributed to the Free Speech Movement. The New Left is a term used in different countries to describe left-wing movements that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s in the Western world. They differed from earlier leftist movements that had been more oriented towards labour activism, and instead adopted social activism. The American "New Left"
23328-430: The wearing of natural or " Afro " hairstyles by Black people, the donning of revealing clothing by women in public, and the mainstreaming of the psychedelic clothing and regalia of the short-lived hippie culture. Ultimately, practical and comfortable casual apparel, namely updated forms of T-shirts (often tie-dyed , or emblazoned with political or advertising statements), and Levi Strauss-branded blue denim jeans became
23490-471: The works of popular musical acts such as the Beatles , Jimi Hendrix , Jim Morrison , Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan , as well as of New Hollywood , French New Wave , and Japanese New Wave filmmakers, whose works became far less restricted by censorship. Within and across many disciplines, many other creative artists, authors, and thinkers helped define the counterculture movement. Everyday fashion experienced
23652-622: Was "rooted in humanism and in a romantic and visionary ideal of harmony among men." The Allen Ginsberg Estate and Jewel Heart International partnered to present "Transforming Minds: Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche and Friends", a gallery and online exhibition of images of Gelek Rimpoche by Allen Ginsberg, a student with whom he had an "indissoluble bond," in 2021 at Tibet House US in New York City. Fifty negatives from Ginsberg's Stanford University photo archive celebrated "the unique relationship between Allen and Rimpoche." The selection of never-before presented images, featuring great Tibetan masters including
23814-490: Was Tibetan Buddhist Chögyam Trungpa , the founder of the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado . At Trungpa's urging, Ginsberg and poet Anne Waldman started The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics there in 1974. For decades, Ginsberg was active in political protests across a range of issues from the Vietnam War to the war on drugs . His poem " September on Jessore Road " drew attention to refugees fleeing
23976-698: Was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1995 for his book Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986–1992 . Ginsberg was born into a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey , and grew up in nearby Paterson . He was the second son of Louis Ginsberg , also born in Newark, a schoolteacher and published poet, and the former Naomi Levy, born in Nevel (Russia) and a fervent Marxist . As a teenager, Ginsberg began to write letters to The New York Times about political issues, such as World War II and workers' rights . He published his first poems in
24138-557: Was a civil uprising in the city of Córdoba, Argentina , in the end of May 1969, during the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía , which occurred a few days after the Rosariazo , and a year after the French May '68 . Contrary to previous protests, the Cordobazo did not correspond to previous struggles, headed by Marxist workers' leaders, but associated students and workers in
24300-663: Was a counterculture movement that focused on "provocative direct action ('pranks' and 'happenings') to arouse society from political and social indifference". In France, the General Strike centered in Paris in May 1968 united French students, and nearly toppled the government. Kommune 1 or K1 was a commune in West Berlin known for its bizarre staged events that fluctuated between satire and provocation . These events served as inspiration for
24462-512: Was a productive, creative time for all of them. There, Ginsberg began his epic poem "Kaddish", Corso composed Bomb and Marriage , and Burroughs (with help from Ginsberg and Corso) put together Naked Lunch from previous writings. This period was documented by the photographer Harold Chapman , who moved in at about the same time, and took pictures constantly of the residents of the "hotel" until it closed in 1963. During 1962–1963, Ginsberg and Orlovsky travelled extensively across India, living half
24624-473: Was also an ongoing issue in the UK during the era. The Vietnam War, and the protracted national divide between supporters and opponents of the war, were arguably the most important factors contributing to the rise of the larger counterculture movement. The widely accepted assertion that anti-war opinion was held only among the young is a myth, but enormous war protests consisting of thousands of mostly younger people in every major US city, and elsewhere across
24786-440: Was also involved with Krishnaism . He had started incorporating chanting the Hare Krishna mantra into his religious practice in the mid-1960s. After learning that A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada , the founder of the Hare Krishna movement in the Western world had rented a store front in New York, he befriended him, visiting him often and suggesting publishers for his books, and a fruitful relationship began. This relationship
24948-551: Was banned for obscenity. The ban became a cause célèbre among defenders of the First Amendment , and was later lifted, after Judge Clayton W. Horn declared the poem to possess redeeming artistic value. Ginsberg and Shig Murao , the City Lights manager who was jailed for selling "Howl," became lifelong friends. Ginsberg claimed at one point that all of his work was an extended biography (like Kerouac's Duluoz Legend ). "Howl"
25110-484: Was collected from audience members to buy jugs of wine, and Ginsberg reading passionately, drunken, with arms outstretched. Ginsberg's principal work, "Howl," is well known for its opening line: "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked [...]." "Howl" was considered scandalous at the time of its publication, because of the rawness of its language. Shortly after its 1956 publication by San Francisco's City Lights Bookstore , it
25272-403: Was fixed at $ 2.50 and limited to door sales. Despite the apprehensions of the organizers, by the beginning of the concert at 8 PM an audience of nearly 3,000 had gathered at the Avalon Ballroom, filling the hall to its capacity. Latecomers had to wait outside for vacancies in order to enter. Participants were treated on prasad (sanctified food) consisting of orange slices and, regardless of
25434-574: Was one of the founders of the Beatitude poetry magazine. Wally Hedrick —a painter and co-founder of the Six Gallery —approached Ginsberg in mid-1955 and asked him to organize a poetry reading at the Six Gallery . At first, Ginsberg refused, but once he had written a rough draft of "Howl," he changed his "fucking mind," as he put it. Ginsberg advertised the event as "Six Poets at the Six Gallery." One of
25596-572: Was produced by an evolving collective, many of whom had previously produced counterculture newspapers Revolution and High Times , and all three of these magazines were co-founded by publisher/editor Phillip Frazer , who launched Australia's legendary pop music paper Go-Set in 1966, when he was himself a teenager. In Mexico, rock music was tied into the youth revolt of the 1960s. Mexico City, as well as northern cities such as Monterrey , Nuevo Laredo , Ciudad Juárez , and Tijuana , were exposed to US music. Many Mexican rock stars became involved in
25758-543: Was published in 1956 by City Lights , he worked as a market researcher. In 1954, in San Francisco, Ginsberg met Peter Orlovsky (1933–2010), with whom he fell in love and who remained his lifelong partner. Selections from their correspondence have been published. Also in San Francisco, Ginsberg met members of the San Francisco Renaissance (James Broughton, Robert Duncan, Madeline Gleason and Kenneth Rexroth) and other poets who would later be associated with
25920-399: Was still very young and fled in fear. Ginsberg introduced Corso to Kerouac and Burroughs and they began to travel together. Ginsberg and Corso remained lifelong friends and collaborators. Shortly after this period in Ginsberg's life, he became romantically involved with Elise Nada Cowen after meeting her through Alex Greer, a philosophy professor at Barnard College whom she had dated for
26082-529: Was the subject of two celebrated obscenity trials, one in Australia in 1964 and the other in the United Kingdom in 1971. The Digger was published monthly between 1972 and 1975 and served as a national outlet for many movements within Australia's counterculture with notable contributors—including second-wave feminists Anne Summers and Helen Garner ; Californian cartoonist Ron Cobb 's observations during
26244-428: Was viewed as an unjust Vietnam war. The American Asian Movement differs from previous Asian-American activism due to its emphasis on Pan-Asianism and its solidarity with US and international Third World movements . "Its founding principle of coalition politics emphasizes solidarity among Asians of all ethnicities, multiracial solidarity among Asian Americans as well as with African , Latino , and Native Americans in
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