Social
Activism
and
the
Counterculture
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Musician
Judy
Collins
performing
at
anti-Vietnam
War
rally,
Kezar
Stadium,
San
Francisco,
1967 |
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In
the
1960s,
Lisa
Law
and
thousands
of
other
Americans
were
moved
by
the
Vietnam
War,
racial
injustice,
fear
of
nuclear
annihilation,
and
the
rampant
materialism
of
capitalist
society.
Many
were
inspired
by
leaders
such
as
John
F.
Kennedy
and
Martin
Luther
King
Jr.
Small
groups
staged
sit-ins
at
schools,
local
lunch
counters,
and
other
public
facilities.
Masses
gathered
in
the
nation's
cities
to
protest
what
they
saw
as
America's
shortcomings.
Many
members
of
the
counterculture
saw
their
own
lives
as
ways
to
express
political
and
social
beliefs.
Personal
appearance,
song
lyrics,
and
the
arts
were
some
of
the
methods
used
to
make
both
individual
and
communal
statements.
Though
the
specifics
of
the
debates
were
new,
arguments
for
personal
freedom,
free
speech,
and
political
reform
go
back
to
the
foundations
of
American
society
and
the
arguments
of
19th-century
social
reformers
and
founders
of
new
communities.
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Artist
Liberation
Front
meeting,
San
Francisco,
1967.
This
group
of
artists
presented
alternatives
to
"official"
art
in
the
form
of
street
fairs
that
featured
live
music,
mimes,
puppet
shows,
and
participatory
painting. |
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Victor
Maymudes,
Bob
Dylan's
road
manager,
with
a
mandala,
a
symbol
of
life,
Monterey
International
Pop
Festival,
1967.
Maymudes
carried
this
mandala
made
from
burnt
doll
parts
to
protest
the
U.S.
dropping
of
napalm
in
Vietnam. |
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Coretta
Scott
King,
anti-Vietnam
War
rally,
Kezar
Stadium,
San
Francisco,
1967
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Paul
Krassner
(center),
editor
of
the
underground
publication
The
Realist,
and
Harvey
Kornspan
(far
right),
a
member
of
the
Diggers,
the
Panhandle,
San
Francisco,
1967.
The
Diggers
were
political
activists
and
performers
who
distributed
free
food
and
clothing
and
staged
theatrical
events
in
the
streets
of
San
Francisco. |
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Tony
Price
playing
the
atomic
gongs,
El
Rancho,
New
Mexico,
1970.
Price
made
musical
instruments
out
of
materials
salvaged
from
the
U.S.
atomic
bomb
research
facility
at
Los
Alamos,
New
Mexico. |
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Black
Panthers,
anti-Vietnam
War
rally,
Kezar
Stadium,
San
Francisco,
1967.
The
newly
formed
Black
Panther
Party,
frustrated
with
the
status
quo,
called
attention
to
the
purportedly
disproportionate
numbers
of
black
men
bearing
the
burden
of
combat
in
the
Vietnam
War.
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"General
Hershey
Bar,"
San
Francisco,
1967.
Antiwar
demonstrators
used
street
theater
and
satire
to
make
political
commentary.
Gen.
Lewis
B.
Hershey
headed
the
Selective
Service
(Draft
Board)
in
the
Vietnam
era.
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Anti-Vietnam
War
march,
Market
Street,
San
Francisco,
1967.
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