Editing Flower power

{{Short description|Slogan of passive resistance and nonviolence}}
{{other uses|Flower power (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Vietnamdem.jpg|250px|thumb|A demonstrator offers a flower to military police at an anti-Vietnam War protest at [[The Pentagon]] in [[Arlington, Virginia]], 21 October 1967]]
'''Flower power''' was a [[slogan]] used during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of [[passive resistance]] and [[nonviolence]].<ref>Stuart Hall, "The Hippies: An American Moment" published in Ann Gray (Ed.), ''CCCS Selected Working Papers'', Routledge,  (December 20, 2007), p.155 {{ISBN|0-415-32441-6}}</ref> It is rooted in the [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|opposition movement to the Vietnam War]].<ref>Chatarji, Subarno, ''Memories of a Lost War: American Poetic Responses to the Vietnam War'', Oxford University Press, 2001,  p.42 {{ISBN|0-19-924711-0}}</ref> The expression was coined by the American [[Beat Generation|Beat poet]] [[Allen Ginsberg]] in 1965 as a means to transform war protests into peaceful affirmative spectacles.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/ginsberg_a.html "Allen Ginsburg"], American Masters, Public Broadcasting System, pbs.org, retrieved 30-04-2009</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Guide to the Allen Ginsberg Papers: Biography/Administrative History |url=http://cdn.calisphere.org/data/13030/hb/tf5c6004hb/files/tf5c6004hb.pdf | work=The Online Archive of California | publisher=Stanford University | year=1997 | page=3 | access-date=2011-09-21}}</ref><ref>Tony Perry, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-04-06-mn-46040-story.html "Poet Allen Ginsberg Dies at 70"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', April 06, 1997</ref> [[Hippie]]s embraced the symbolism by dressing in clothing with embroidered flowers and vibrant colors, wearing flowers in their hair, and distributing flowers to the public, becoming known as [[flower child]]ren.<ref>Rennay Craats, ''History of the 1960s'', Weigl Publishers Inc., 2001, p.36 {{ISBN|1-930954-29-8}}</ref> The term later became generalized as a modern reference to the hippie movement and the so-called [[counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture]] of drugs, [[psychedelic music]], psychedelic art and social permissiveness.<ref>Heilig, S., "The Brotherhood of Eternal Love-From Flower Power to Hippie Mafia: The Story of LSD Counterculture", ''Journal of Psychoactive Drugs'', 2007, Vol 39; No 3, pages 307-308</ref>

==Origin==
The term "Flower Power" originated in [[Berkeley, California]], as a symbolic action of protest against the Vietnam War. In a November 1965 essay titled ''How to Make a March/Spectacle'', Beat poet Allen Ginsberg advocated that protesters should be provided with "masses of flowers" to hand out to policemen, press, politicians and spectators.<ref>Ginsberg, Allen, "Demonstration or Spectacle as Example, As Communication, or How to Make a March/Spectacle", ''Berkeley Barb'', November 19, 1965, republished in ''The Portable Sixties Reader'', Ann Charles (Ed.), Penguin Classic, 2002, p.208-212 {{ISBN|978-0-14-200194-3}}</ref> The use of props like flowers, toys, flags, candy and music were meant to turn anti-war rallies into a form of [[street theater]] thereby reducing the fear, anger and threat that is inherent within protests.<ref>Ben Shepard,[http://www.journalofaestheticsandprotest.org/1/BenShepard/shepard2.html "Absurd Responses vs. Earnest Politics"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703163847/http://www.journalofaestheticsandprotest.org/1/BenShepard/shepard2.html |date=2008-07-03 }}, ''Journal of Aesthetics and Protest'', Volume 1, Issue 2, January 2003</ref>  In particular, Ginsberg wanted to counter the "specter" of the [[Hells Angels]] motorcycle gang who supported the war, equated war protesters with communists and had threatened to violently disrupt planned anti-war demonstrations at the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref>{{cite book | first=Lewis | last=Hyde | title=On the poetry of Allen Ginsberg | publisher=University of Michigan Press | date=January 1, 1985 | page=[https://archive.org/details/onpoetryofalleng0000unse/page/264 264] | isbn=0-472-06353-7 | url=https://archive.org/details/onpoetryofalleng0000unse/page/264 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first=Allen | last=Ginsberg | title=Family Business: Selected Letters Between a Father and Son | url=https://archive.org/details/familybusiness00alle | url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/familybusiness00alle/page/241 241] | publisher=Bloomsbury | date=September 7, 2002 | isbn=1-58234-216-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first=Barry | last=Miles | title=Hippie | page=50 | publisher=Sterling | date=August 28, 2005 | isbn=1-4027-2873-5}}</ref> Using Ginsberg's methods, the protest received positive attention and the use of "flower power" became an integral symbol in the counterculture movement.<ref>William Lawlor, ''Beat culture: lifestyles, icons, and impact'', ABC-CLIO (2005), p.126  {{ISBN|1-85109-400-8}}</ref>

==Movement==
{{Quote box
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| quote   = "The cry of 'Flower Power' echoes through the land. We shall not wilt. Let a thousand flowers bloom."
| source  =  — [[Abbie Hoffman]], ''Workshop in Nonviolence'', May 1967
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By late 1966, the Flower Power method of [[guerilla theater]] had spread from California to other parts of the United States. The [[Bread and Puppet Theater]] in New York City staged numerous protests which included handing out balloons and flowers with their anti-war literature.<ref name="Jezer">{{cite book | first=Marty | last=Jezer | title=Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel | year=1993 | publisher=Rutgers University Press | isbn=978-0813520179 | page=115}}</ref> ''Workshop in Nonviolence'' (WIN), a magazine published by New York activists, encouraged the use of Flower Power. 

In May 1967, [[Abbie Hoffman]] organized the Flower Brigade as an official contingent of a New York City parade honoring the soldiers in Vietnam. News coverage captured Flower Brigade participants, who carried flowers, flags and pink posters imprinted with LOVE, being attacked and beaten by bystanders.<ref name="Jezer"/> In response to the violence, Hoffman wrote in WIN magazine, "Plans are being made to mine the East River with daffodils. Dandelion chains are being wrapped around induction centers.... The cry of 'Flower Power' echoes through the land. We shall not wilt."<ref name="Jezer"/> On the following Sunday, WIN activists declared [[Armed Forces Day]] as "Flower Power Day" and held a rally in [[Central Park]] to counter the traditional parade. Turnout was low and, according to Hoffman, the rally was ineffective because guerilla theater needed to be more confrontational.<ref name="Jezer"/><ref>Richard M. Freid, ''The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!: Pageantry and Patriotism in Cold-War America'', Oxford University Press, (1999), p. 141, {{ISBN|0-19-513417-6}}</ref>

In October 1967, Hoffman and [[Jerry Rubin]] helped organize the [[March on the Pentagon]] using Flower Power concepts to create a theatrical spectacle.<ref>James J. Farrell, ''The Spirit of the Sixties: The Making of Postwar Radicalism'', Routledge, 1997, p.223</ref> The plan included a call for marchers to attempt to "[[Levitation (physics)|levitate]]" [[the Pentagon]]. When the marchers faced off against more than 2500 Army national guard troops forming a human barricade in front of the Pentagon, some demonstrators held out flowers and a few placed their flowers in the soldiers' [[rifle barrel]]s.<ref>Carlito Rivera, "The 1967 March on the Pentagon and lessons for today", ''Socialism and Liberation Magazine'', March 2007, retrieved 26-09-2009</ref>

{{external media
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| image1 = [http://www.marcriboud.com/marcriboud/50ANS/pages/0003.html The classic photo of a young woman with a flower facing-off against soldiers with fixed bayonets], by [[Marc Riboud]]<ref>{{cite web | first=Marc | last=Riboud | url=http://www.marcriboud.com/marcriboud/accueil.html | title=Marc Riboud: Cinquante And De Photographie | work=www.marcriboud.com | access-date=2011-09-21 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911123811/http://www.marcriboud.com/marcriboud/accueil.html | archive-date=2011-09-11 }}</ref>
|image2=[https://web.archive.org/web/20121013211302/http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/03/17/PH2007031701303.html Pulitzer Prize-nominated ''Flower Power''] photo by [[Bernie Boston]].<ref name="Bernie"/>
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Photographs of flower-wielding protesters at the Pentagon march became iconic images of 1960s anti-war protests. One photo called "[[The Ultimate Confrontation]]" (by French photojournalist [[Marc Riboud]]), showed 17-year-old high school student [[Jan Rose Kasmir]] clasping a chrysanthemum and gazing at [[bayonet]]-wielding soldiers. ''[[Smithsonian Magazine]]'' later described the photo, which was published throughout the world, as "a gauzy juxtaposition of armed force and flower child innocence".<ref>{{cite journal | first=Andrew | last=Curry | url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Flower_Child.html | title=Flower Child | journal=[[Smithsonian Magazine]] | date=April 2004 | access-date=2011-09-21 | archive-date=2013-03-24 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324053509/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Flower_Child.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Another photo from the march, titled ''[[Flower Power (photograph)|Flower Power]]'' (by ''Washington Star'' photographer [[Bernie Boston]]), was nominated for the 1967 [[Pulitzer Prize]].<ref name="Bernie">Bernie Boston, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121013211302/http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/03/17/PH2007031701303.html "Flower Power"], ''The Washington Evening Star'', October 21, 1967</ref>  The photo shows a young man in a [[turtleneck sweater]] placing [[carnation]]s in the [[rifle barrel]]s of [[military police]]men. The young man in the photo is most commonly identified as George Edgerly Harris III, an 18-year-old actor from New York who later performed in San Francisco under the stage name of [[Hibiscus (entertainer)|Hibiscus]].<ref name=suspect>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/17/AR2007031701300.html | first=Davis | last=Montgomery | title=Flowers, Guns and an Iconic Snapshot | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=March 18, 2007 | page=D04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/17/magazine/karma-chameleon.html|title=Karma Chameleon|last=Silva|first=Hoaracio|date=August 17, 2003|work=New York Times Magazine|access-date=9 October 2017}}</ref> According to writer and activist [[Paul Krassner]], however, the young man was [[Youth International Party|Yippie]] organizer "Super-Joel" Tornabene.<ref>{{cite web | first=Paul | last=Krassner | author-link=Paul Krassner | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-krassner/tom-waits-meets-superjoel_b_84035.html | title=Tom Waits Meets Super-Joel | date=January 30, 2008 | work=The Huffington Post | access-date=2011-01-24}}</ref> Harris died in New York in the early 1980s during the early stages of the [[HIV/AIDS]] epidemic,<ref name=suspect /> while Tornabene died in Mexico in 1993.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Krassner |first=Paul |date=November 30, 2009 |title=A Dose of My Own Medicine |url=http://antiquechildren.com/culture/paulkrassner.html |url-status=dead |journal=Antique Children |publisher=AQC Books |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010004825/http://antiquechildren.com/culture/paulkrassner.html |archive-date=October 10, 2017 |access-date=September 11, 2020}}</ref>

On 10 December 1971, [[John Lennon]], an outspoken critic of the war, appeared at a [[rally for John Sinclair]], a political activist and founding member of the [[White Panther Party]], who had been sentenced to 10 years for marijuana possession.<ref>The Beatles Bible, "[https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/john-lennon/songs/john-sinclair/ John Sinclair]". Retrieved July 30, 2019.</ref> He said, "OK so Flower Power didn't work. So what. We start again."<ref>Michael Epstein, director, producer and writer, (November 21, 2010) [https://www.pbs.org/video/american-masters-lennonyc/ American Masters: LENNONYC], documentary film, (13:23 min). Public Broadcasting System (available U.S. only). Retrieved July 30, 2019.</ref>

By the early 1970s, the Flower Power anti-war movement had faded primarily due to the end of the [[military draft]] in 1972 and the start of American withdrawal from combat activities in Vietnam in January 1973.<ref name="MACFARLANE">{{cite book |last=MacFarlane |first=Scott |editor-last=Monhollon |editor-first=Rusty L. |title=Baby Boom: People and Perspectives |url=https://archive.org/details/babyboompeoplepe00monh |url-access=limited |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |date=February 9, 2010 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/babyboompeoplepe00monh/page/n167 117]–133 |chapter=Chapter 8: The Counterculture |isbn=978-1598841053}}</ref>

==Cultural heritage==
The iconic center of the Flower Power movement was the [[Haight-Ashbury]] district in [[San Francisco]], [[California]].<ref>Anthony Ashbolt, [http://www.anzasa.arts.usyd.edu.au/a.j.a.s/Articles/2_07/Ashbolt.pdf "Go Ask Alice: Remembering the Summer of Love"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913113150/http://www.anzasa.arts.usyd.edu.au/a.j.a.s/Articles/2_07/Ashbolt.pdf |date=2009-09-13 }}, ''Australasian Journal of American Studies'', December 2007, p.35-47</ref><ref name="npr">Mandalit del Barco, [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11650213 "Haight-Ashbury a Flower-Power Holdover"], ''Morning Edition'', National Public Radio, July 2, 2007</ref> By the mid-1960s, the area, marked by the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets, had become a focal point for psychedelic rock music.<ref>Charles Perry, ''The Haight Ashbury: A History'', Wenner Books; Reprint edition (30 Mar 2007), 320pp, {{ISBN|1-932958-55-X}}</ref> Musicians and bands like [[Jefferson Airplane]], the [[Grateful Dead]] and [[Janis Joplin]] all lived a short distance from the famous intersection. During the 1967 [[Summer of Love]], thousands of hippies gathered there, popularized by [[chart hit|hit]] songs such as "[[San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)]]". 

A July 7, 1967, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine cover story on "The Hippies: Philosophy of a Subculture", and an August [[CBS News]] television report on "The Hippie Temptation",<ref>Harry Reasoner, [http://www.sfsu.edu/~avitv/avcatalog/88444.htm "The Hippie Temptation"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060319070344/http://www.sfsu.edu/~avitv/avcatalog/88444.htm |date=2006-03-19 }}, ''CBS News'', August 22, 1967</ref> as well as other major media exposure, brought the hippie subculture to national attention and popularized the Flower Power movement across the country and around the world. That same summer, [[the Beatles]]' hit single "[[All You Need Is Love]]" served as an anthem for the movement.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wiener|first=Jon|author-link=Jon Wiener|title=Come Together: John Lennon in His Time|year=1991|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana, Ill.|isbn=978-0-252-06131-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/cometogetherjohn00jonw/page/40 40]|url=https://archive.org/details/cometogetherjohn00jonw/page/40}}</ref> On 25 June, the Beatles performed the song on the ''[[Our World (TV special)|Our World]]'' international satellite broadcast, ensuring that the pacifist message reached an audience estimated at 400 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-beatles-make-history-with-all-you-need-is-love-a-minute-by-minute-breakdown-20140828 |title=The Beatles Make History With 'All You Need Is Love': A Minute-by-Minute Breakdown |last=Edwards |first=Gavin|date=28 August 2014|publisher=[[Rolling Stone|rollingstone.com]]|access-date=11 March 2017}}</ref>
[[File:Late 1960s cotton print fabric.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Cotton fabric, late 1960s (USA)]]
The [[avant-garde]] art of [[Milton Glaser]], [[Heinz Edelmann]], and [[Peter Max]] became synonymous with the flower power generation. Edelman's illustration style was best known in his art designs for the Beatles' 1968 animated film ''[[Yellow Submarine (film)|Yellow Submarine]]''. Glaser, the founder of [[Push Pin Studios]], also developed the loose psychedelic graphic design, seen for example in his seminal 1966 poster illustration of [[Bob Dylan]] with paisley hair.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://cooperhewitt.org/NDA/WINNERS/2004/LIFETIMEACHIEVEMENT/index.shtml | title=2004 Lifetime Achievement Award | series=National Design Awards | work=Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum | access-date=2011-03-17 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215182403/http://cooperhewitt.org/NDA/WINNERS/2004/LIFETIMEACHIEVEMENT/index.shtml | archive-date=2010-12-15 }}</ref> It was the posters by pop artist [[Peter Max]], with their vivid fluid designs painted in [[Day-Glo]] colors, which became visual icons of flower power.<ref>{{cite book | title=Arts & Entertainment Fads | first1=Frank W. | last1=Hoffman | first2=William G. | last2=Bailey | pages= 163–164 | publisher=Haworth Press |date=August 1990 | isbn=0-86656-881-6}}</ref> Max's cover story in ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine (September 1969) as well as appearances on ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]'' and ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'', further established "flower power" style art into mainstream culture.<ref name='ArtofPeterMax'>{{cite book | last = Riley II | first = Charles A. | title = The Art of Peter Max | publisher = Abrams, New York | year = 2002 | edition = 1st | pages = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780810932708/page/228 228–235] | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780810932708/page/228 | isbn = 0-8109-3270-9 }}</ref>

==See also==
* {{Portal-inline|1960s}}
* [[Anti-war movement]]
* [[Make love, not war]]
* [[Peace movement]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*Bennett M. Berger, [https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF02804803 "Hippie morality—more old than new "],''Society'', Volume 5, Number 2 / December, 1967
*Stuart Hall, "The Hippies: an American 'moment'", ''CCCS selected working papers'', Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, Routledge, 2007, {{ISBN|0-415-32441-6}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140308020415/http://www.sixtiespix.com/  A 1960s photographic archive]

{{Anti-war}}
{{Hippies}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flower Power}}
[[Category:Hippie movement]]
[[Category:California culture]]
[[Category:Slogans]]
[[Category:Nonviolence]]
[[Category:Pacifism]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1960s]]
[[Category:1960s fads and trends]]
[[Category:History of Berkeley, California]]
[[Category:Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:1965 neologisms]]
[[Category:1960s in California]]
[[Category:1970s fads and trends]]
[[Category:Flowers in culture]]