| Part of theHippie movement | |
 Poster advertising the 'Human Be-In', designed byStanley Mouse (artist) andMichael Bowen (concept), using the photograph of artist Casey Sonnabend | |
| Date | January 14, 1967 |
|---|---|
| Location | San Francisco,United States |
| Participants | Possibly 20,000–30,000 people |
| Outcome | Inspiration for theSummer of Love |
TheHuman Be-In was an event held inSan Francisco'sGolden Gate ParkPolo Fields on January 14, 1967.[1][2][3] It was a prelude to San Francisco'sSummer of Love, which made theHaight-Ashbury district a symbol of Americancounterculture and introduced the word "psychedelic" tosuburbia.
The Human Be-In focused the key ideas of the1960s counterculture: personal empowerment, cultural and political decentralization,communal living,ecological awareness,higher consciousness (with the aid of psychedelic drugs), acceptance of illicit psychedelics use, and radicalNew Leftpolitical consciousness.[4][5] Thehippie movement developed out of disaffected student communities aroundSan Francisco State University,City College andBerkeley and in San Francisco'sbeat generation poets and jazzhipsters, who also combined a search for intuitive spontaneity with a rejection of "middle-classmorality".Allen Ginsberg personified the transition between the beat and hippie generations.[citation needed]
The Human Be-In took its name from a chance remark by the artistMichael Bowen made at theLove Pageant Rally.[6] The playful name combinedhumanist values with the scores ofsit-ins that had been reforming college and university practices and eroding the vestiges of entrenchedsegregation, starting with the lunch counter sit-ins of 1960 inGreensboro, North Carolina, andNashville, Tennessee. The first majorteach-in had been organized byStudents for a Democratic Society at theUniversity of Michigan, 24–25 March 1965.[7]
The Human Be-In was announced on the cover of the fifth issue of theSan Francisco Oracle as "A Gathering of the Tribes for a Human Be-In". The occasion was a new California law banning the use of the psychedelic drugLSD that had come into effect on October 6, 1966.[4] The speakers at the rally were all invited by Bowen, the main organizer. They includedTimothy Leary in his first San Francisco appearance, who set the tone that afternoon with his famous phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out"[8] and Richard Alpert (soon to be known as "Ram Dass"), and poets likeAllen Ginsberg, who chantedmantras,Gary Snyder andMichael McClure. Other counterculture gurus included comedianDick Gregory,Lenore Kandel,Lawrence Ferlinghetti,Jerry Rubin, andAlan Watts. Music was provided by a host of localrock bands includingJefferson Airplane,Grateful Dead,Big Brother and the Holding Company,Quicksilver Messenger Service, andBlue Cheer, most of whom had been staples ofthe Fillmore and theAvalon Ballroom.[9]: 186–191 "Underground chemist"Owsley Stanley provided massive amounts of his "White Lightning" LSD, specially produced for the event, as well as 75 twenty-pound (9 kg) turkeys, for free distribution by theDiggers.[10]: 267 [a]
The national media were stunned, publicity about this event leading to the mass movement of young people from all over America to descend on theHaight-Ashbury area.[11] Reports were unable to agree whether 20,000[4] or 30,000 people showed up at the Be-In.[9]: 188 Soon every gathering was an "-In" of some kind: Just four weeks later wasBob Fass'sHuman Fly-In, then the Love-In (March 26, 1967 at Elysian Park, Los Angeles), theEmmett Grogan inspiredSweep-In, Rowan and Martin'sLaugh-In comedy television show began airing overNBC just a year later on January 22, 1968. This was followed by the first "Yip-In" (March 21, 1968, atGrand Central Terminal), another "Love-In" (April 14, 1968, at Malibu Canyon) and,John Lennon andYoko Ono's "Bed-In" (March 25, 1969, in Amsterdam).[citation needed]
The Human Be-In was organized mainly by Bowen with the assistance of poetAllen Cohen in the organizational work.[citation needed] The idea of the Human Be-In was born of a fear that the movement would be erased due to tensions between factions of the Hippie movement.[citation needed] Bowen writes "The anti-war and free speech movement in Berkeley thought the Hippies were too disengaged and spaced out. Their influence might draw the young away from resistance to the war. The Hippies thought the anti-war movement was doomed to endless confrontations with the establishment which would recoil with violence and fascism".[citation needed] They decided to thus create 'A Gathering of the Tribes', as the event was advertised on posters later on.[citation needed] This event would use musical performances , group meditation and chanting sessions, political rallies, and speeches to inspire all the factions that they had all joined this movement because they had the same beliefs: peace, love for one another, and freedom.[citation needed] This would be the first moment of true unification within the Hippie Movement in its history.[citation needed]
The counterculture that surfaced at the "Human Be-In" encouraged people to "question authority" with regard tocivil rights,women's rights, andconsumer rights. Underground newspapers and radio stations served as itsalternative media.[12][b]
A Human Be-In was put on inDenver, Colorado in July 1967 byChet Helms andBarry Fey to harness the energy of the famed San Francisco event that occurred in January and promote their new Family Dog Productions venue,The Family Dog Denver.[13] The event attracted 5,000 people and featured performances byGrateful Dead,Odetta andCaptain Beefheart.Timothy Leary andKen Kesey were said to have also been in attendance.[14]
A "Digital Be-In" was produced in San Francisco from 1989 to 2008.[15]
A UK theatre company, Theatre 14167 (ddmyy), (also 14167 films) takes its name from the date of the Be-In; the company subsequently produced work byMichael McClure, who read at the event.[16]
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