User:Alicelrx/Human Be-In

Inspiration
The Human Be-In was organized mainly by Bowen with the assistance of poet Allen Cohen in the organizational work. The idea of the Human Be-In was born of a fear that the movement would be erasured due to tensions between factions of the Hippie movement. Bowen writes "The anti-war and free speech movement in Berkeley thought the Hippies were too disengaged and spaced out. Their influence might draw the young away from resistance to the war. The Hippies thought the anti-war movement was doomed to endless confrontations with the establishment which would recoil with violence and fascism". They decided to thus create 'A Gathering of the Tribes', as the event was advertised on posters later on. This event would use musical performences, group meditation and chanting sessions, political rallies, and speeches to inspire all the factions that they had all joined this movement because they had the same beliefs: peace, love for one another, and freedom. This would be the first moment of true unification within the Hippie Movement in its history.