Youth International Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Nobody (Pigasus used as a symbolic leader) |
| Founded | December 31, 1967 (as Yippies) |
| Succeeded by | Grassroots Party |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Newspaper | The Yipster Times Youth International Party Line Overthrow |
| Ideology | Anarchism Anti-authoritarianism Counterculture Marijuana legalization Anti-Vietnam War |
| Colors | Black, green, red |
| Party flag | |
 | |
The Youth International Party (YIP), whose members were commonly called Yippies, was an American youth-oriented radical and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the late 1960s. It was founded on December 31, 1967.[1][2] They employed theatrical gestures to mock the social status quo, such as advancing a pig called "Pigasus the Immortal" as a candidate for President of the United States in 1968.[3] They have been described as a highly theatrical, anti-authoritarian, and anarchist youth movement of "symbolic politics".[4][5]
Since they were well known for street theater, protesting against the criminalization of cannabis in the United States with smoke-ins, and politically themed pranks, they were either ignored or denounced by many of the Old Left. According to ABC News, "The group was known for street theater pranks and was once referred to as the 'Groucho Marxists'."[6]
- ^ Paul Krassner (1994). Confessions of a raving, unconfined nut: misadventures in the counter-culture. Simon & Schuster. p. 156. ISBN 9781593765033.
- ^ Neil A. Hamilton, The ABC-CLIO companion to the 1960s counterculture in America, Page 339, ABC-CLIO, 1997
- ^ David Holloway (2002). "Yippies". St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
- ^ Abbie Hoffman, Soon to be a Major Motion Picture, page 128. Perigee Books, 1980. ISBN 9780399505034
- ^ Gitlin, Todd (1993). The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage. New York: Bantam Books. pp. 286. ISBN 978-0553372120.
- ^ "1969: Height of the Hippies". ABC News. Archived from the original on August 12, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2016.