Abbie Hoffman (1936 - 1989)
Mon Nov 30, 1936
Abbot "Abbie" Howard Hoffman, born on this day in 1936, was an American political activist, anarchist, socialist, and revolutionary who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies"). His FBI file was 13,262 pages long.
Hoffman was arrested and tried for conspiracy and inciting to riot as a result of his role in anti-Vietnam War protests, which were met by a violent police riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He was among the group that came to be known as the Chicago Eight, which included future California state senator Tom Hayden and Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale.
As a prominent left-wing dissident and leader of the counter-culture movement, Hoffman's personal life drew a great deal of surveillance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation - its file on him was 13,262 pages long. He committed suicide in 1989.
MR. WEINGLASS: "Between the date of your birth, November 30th, 1936, and May 1st, 1960, what if anything occurred in your life?"
HOFFMAN: "Nothing. I believe it is called an American education."
- Abbie Hoffman, from the Chicago 7 trial
- Date: 1936-11-30
- Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.britannica.com, archive.org.
- Tags: #Birthdays, #Riots.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org
While I appreciate the man, it is interesting to think of what would have happened had the Yippies not co-opted the groundswell of leftist action. Would we have a legitimate socialist party today? Would we have seen something more akin to a real attempt at revolution instead of an attempt to levitate the pentagon? Did he and the yippies help turn the social movement from a serious shift left to a trend? Or would capitalism have done that either way to intentionally sell out the soul of the movement?
We will never know, but there’s no denying that the antics of the yippies redirected the entire leftist movement and arguably still affects and splits the left today.