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The Youth International Party (whose adherents were known as Yippies, a variant on "Hippies" that is also used to designate the surviving circles of activists who came out of the now-defunct YIP) was a highly theatrical political party established in the United States in 1966. An offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the 1960s, the Yippies presented a more radically youth-oriented and countercultural alternative to those movements. They employed theatrical gestures—such as advancing a pig ("Pigasus the Immortal") as a candidate for President in 1968—to mock the social status quo.

Since they were better known for street theatre and politically-themed pranks, many of the "old school" political left either ignored or denounced them. One Communist newspaper in the USA derisively referred to them as "Groucho Marxists".

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Origins 1.2 Writings 1.3 Yippies in the New Millennium 2 See also 3 External links 4 References and further reading

The Yippies had no formal membership or hierarchy: Abbie Hoffman, Anita Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Nancy Kurshan, and Paul Krassner were among the founders of the Yippies (according to his own account, Krassner coined the name). Other activists associated with the Yippies include Stew Albert, Dick Gregory, Ed Sanders, Phil Ochs, Jonah Raskin, Dana Beal, Judy Collins [1], and David Peel.

A Yippie flag was designed, presumably by Abbie Hoffman, and was frequently seen at anti-war demonstrations. The flag had a black background with a five pointed red star in the center, and a green cannabis leaf superimposed over it. This flag is also mentioned in Hoffman's Steal This Book.

The term Yippie was thought up by Krassner and Hoffman on New Year's Eve 1967. Anita Hoffman liked the word, but felt the New York Times and other "straight-laced types" needed a more formal name to take the movement seriously. That same night she came up with Youth International Party, because it symbolized the movement and made for a good play on words.

Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin became the most famous Yippies — and best-selling authors — in part due to publicity surrounding the five-month Chicago Seven Conspiracy trial of 1969. Hoffman and Rubin were arguably the most colorful of the seven defendants accused of criminal conspiracy and inciting to riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Hoffman and Rubin used the trial as a platform for Yippie antics—at one point, they showed up in court attired in judicial robes.

In 1970, in his presence, Felix Dennis referred to Hoffman as, "the most unreasonable cunt I've ever met," during a live transmission of The Frost Programme, the first broadcast of the obscenity on British television.

The Youth International Party Line (YIPL; later, the name was changed to TAP for Technological American Party or Technological Assistance Program), in June 1971 Hoffman and Al Bell started the pioneer phreak magazine.

A YIP-related newspaper, The Yipster Times was founded by Dana Beal in 1972 and published in New York City. It changed its name to Overthrow in 1979.

The Yippies, led by Beal, with their headquarters at 9 Bleecker Street in lower Manhattan, have continued as a small movement into the early 2000s. They no longer publish a newspaper, but are known for their annual marches in New York City to legalize marijuana. Beal crusades for the use of Ibogaine to treat heroin addicts. His erstwhile associate Aron Kay ("Pieman") continues to inspire a new generation of pie-throwers (of mushroom pies) against establishment figures. Another Yippie, A.J. Weberman, deconstructs the poetry of Bob Dylan, unmasks neo-Nazis, and speculates about the tramps on the Grassy Knoll through his various websites.

In 2004, the Yippies, along with the National AIDS Brigade, purchased their 9 Bleeker Street headquarters for $1.2 million. ^[1] It has since been converted into the "Yippie Museum Cafe" and houses an independently operated cafe that features live music on scheduled nights (No alcohol served or permitted on premises). The museum is, according to curator A.J. Weberman, "...chartered by the Board of Regents of New York State ^[2] and exists to preserve the history of the Youth International Party and all of its offshoots."

Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book, considered to be the "Yippie Bible", is being re-written for a new generation as a wiki-based resource. The project has been dubbed Steal This Wiki.

• May Day Protests 1971
• Summer of Love
• Human Be-In

1. ^ New York Sun, 16 March 2006; "Yippies Apply for a Piece of Establishment"
2. ^ NY Board of Regents - Charter Applications for March 2006

• New Yippie Cafe and Museum Web Site

• Stew Albert's Yippie Reading Room!
• Pieman's Homepage (Aron Kay)
• Abbie Hoffman's Wakeup Amerika
• Yippie Speakers Bureau
• Cures not Wars
• Deoxyribonucleic Yippie!
• The Chicago Seven Trial
• Archive of the YIPL and TAP Newsletters
• Acidtrip.com compiled by AJ Weberman
• YipCast - Modern Day Yippies Expressing Free Speech
• A 10 minute documentary on the Yippies, created as a National History Day entry.
• Flags of the World - Listing for the Youth International Party Flag
• The Villager - Article on Yippie Museum project
• The Yippie Revolution
• Vancouver Yippie
• Yippie Museum (Official Website)