Love, Be-Ins, and that Hippie Chic (video)

David Hoffman, July 5, 2023; The Hippie Chic, Smothers Brothers; The Mamas and Papas, Ed Sullivan Show; Imogen Eddington, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

1967 Stoned hippies tell ALL to a film crew

(Early Reality TV David Hoffman) The Human Be-In [a kind of Love-In], also known as "A Gathering of Tribes," took place on January 14, 1967, atGolden Gate Park, San Francisco, California.

It helped to catalyze the counter-culture movement and set the stage for the "Summer of Love" later that year. The Be-In was intended to unify various elements of the counter-culture movement -- Beatniks, hippies, and anti-war activists -- as well as to provide a platform for various spiritual leaders, philosophers, and musicians to share their perspectives.

The name "Be-In" (be'ing) was a play on words, a reference to sit-ins and other peaceful protests of the time, but implying a more peaceful, passive (non-warlike), communal, and individualistic (creative) intent [just be-ing rather than always do-ing].

An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people attended. It included speeches by figures like Harvard Dr. Timothy Leary who famously uttered his phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out" at the event.

Other speakers included Harvard Dr. Richard Alpert (later known as Ram Dass), poet Allen Ginsberg, and Jerry Rubin.

There were performances by local bands like The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. Participants shared food (provided by the Diggers, a local anarchist collective), danced freely, created spontaneous art, and engaged in peaceful protest against the U.S. War on [peaceful Buddhist] Vietnam.

The Human Be-In was widely covered in the mainstream media. It directly set the stage for the larger and more famous "Summer of Love," which took place in San Francisco later that same year.

The term "Love-In" described a variety of gatherings that promoted peace, love, and unity against the backdrop of the unpopular imperial American Vietnam War and other societal pressures.

While there were numerous "Love-In" events across the United States, the most significant one took place in Easter 1967 at Central Park in New York City.

The Central Park Be-In featured performances by various musicians and bands. Like its counterpart in San Francisco, the Central Park Be-In helped to solidify the hippie movement's ethos of peace and love as a counter to the prevailing societal and political conflicts of the time.

It also helped to popularize the notion of large, peaceful gatherings as a form of social and political protest.

The New York event, together with other "Be-Ins" and "Love-Ins," played a crucial part in setting the stage for larger gatherings and music festivals to follow, most notably the Woodstock festival in 1969.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in the United States, about 4% of Americans had tried marijuana by that time. [The number was likely much higher.]

The 1960s and 1970s were key decades in the evolution of public attitudes towards natural marijuana (Cannabis sativa, THC, CBD), but it wasn't until the late 1970s that marijuana use peaked.

Accurate data for drug use during this period is difficult to establish because nationwide surveys on drug use were not as comprehensive or methodologically rigorous as they are today.

It's likely that there was significant underreporting of marijuana use due to its illegal status and associated social stigma.