Abbie Hoffman was a well-known US political activist who gained national attention after the riots at the 20th Democratic National Convention. She was involved in the civil rights and anti-war movements and organized protests that disrupted the Democratic National Convention in 1968. Hoffman was charged with drug possession and went underground before receiving a one-year sentence. She continued to write and be involved in public protests until her death in 1989, which was ruled a suicide but is disputed by her supporters. Hoffman remains a recognizable figure in political activism.
Born November 30, 1936, Abbott Hoffman became one of the best-known US political activists of the mid-20th century. Gaining national attention after the riots that took place at the 20th Democratic National Convention, Hoffman remained politically active until his death at the age of 1968. However, Abbie Hoffman’s political career was already well underway before the days of the Chicago Seven.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Abbie Hoffman was involved in earning an education. At Brandeis University, Hoffman received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959. This was followed by a Master’s degree in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley. It was during her teenage years that Hoffman began to become politically active and took his first steps towards becoming a well-known anti-war organizer.
Although Abbie Hoffman is well known as the organizer of the International Youth Party, this was not her first attempt to mobilize young people into a valid political voice. Hoffman helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which helped raise funds for the civil rights movement that was gaining traction in the Southern United States. As her concepts of equality and peaceful resolution continued to expand, Abbie Hoffman also began to get involved in the anti-war movement.
For Hoffman, gaining control of the political machine was how the effect changed. This mentality was at the root of his motivation for the organized protests that disrupted the Democratic National Convention in 1968. During the ensuing trial, Hoffman often described himself as a Jewish activist and anarchist. While his methods were often theatrical and sometimes bordered on the esoteric, few will deny that Abbie Hoffman motivated large numbers of young people to engage in the political process.
An example of the extreme methods employed by Abbie Hoffman to generate interest can be found in her anti-war protests. At one point, Hoffman staged a protest with more than fifty thousand young people participating. Among other things, the agenda of this protest was to combine the psychic powers of the participants and direct the flow of energy to the Pentagon in Washington, DC. The idea was to have the building lift off the ground and somehow bring about an end to the Vietnam War.
In 1973, Abbie Hoffman was charged with drug possession with intent to sell. In denying the allegations, Hoffman went underground, although she continued to exert influence on the protest movement through her writings. After seven years, Abbie Hoffman has chosen to emerge and face the allegations. After a trial, she received a one-year sentence.
For most of the 1980s, Abbie Hoffman continued to write, often targeting government procedures and programs as well as big business. He has continued to collaborate with others on projected book projects, as well as creating an extensive body of notes relating to personal projects as well. As late as 1986, Hoffman was actively involved in public protests, with one arrest occurring during a protest at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Abbie Hoffman’s death on April 12, 1989 from a phenobarbital overdose remains a point of contention with many of her supporters. While the death was officially ruled a suicide, those close to Hoffman say the overdose was accidental. Regardless of the exact reason for her death, there is little doubt that Abbie Hoffman remains the most recognizable of all the Yippies and she continues to wield some degree of influence on political activism to this day.
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