Abbie Hoffman Biography

Occup.	Activist
From	USA
Born	November 30, 1936
Died	April 12, 1989
Aged	52 years

Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a significant and debatable American political as well as social activist. He was born upon November 30, 1936, in Worcester, Massachusetts, to John Hoffman as well as Florence Schanberg. Elevated in a middle-class Jewish household, Hoffman went to Worcester Classical High School, later on graduating from Brandeis University in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He made his master's level in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1960.

Hoffman was a crucial number during the 1960s counterculture activity, making use of unusual methods to bring attention to numerous social and political problems. In 1967, he co-founded the Youth International Party (Yippies) with Jerry Rubin and also Paul Krassner. The Yippies were known for their theatrical as well as ridiculing protests, often mixing wit and also politics to support for peace, civil rights, and also various other dynamic causes. One noteworthy Yippie demonstration in 1967 involved Hoffman as well as fellow activists tossing dollar bills onto the trading flooring of the New York Stock Exchange, disrupting trading, and accentuating problems of wealth and inequality in the United States.

Hoffman was one of the main coordinators of the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago. These demonstrations, in which hundreds of demonstrators gathered to oppose the Vietnam War, brought about terrible battles with police as well as mass arrests. Hoffman and various other protest leaders, including Rubin and Black Panther Party founder Bobby Seale, were charged with conspiracy theory as well as prompting riots, leading to the infamous "Chicago Seven" test. In 1970, Hoffman was convicted on 5 counts of crossing state lines to incite a riot, yet the convictions were later rescinded on appeal.

In addition to his advocacy, Hoffman was a respected writer and also audio speaker, publishing a number of books throughout his lifetime. In 1969, he published "Revolution for the Hell of It," a mix of anecdotes and advice for would-be activists. This was complied with by "Steal This Book" in 1971, a controversial work that promoted for "survival in a capitalist America" through methods such as squatting and also shoplifting. Hoffman also created "Vote!" in 1972, motivating young people to be politically energetic as well as make use of ballot as a means of enacting change.

Hoffman struggled with bipolar disorder and chemical abuse issues throughout his life. In 1973, while facing costs for supposedly selling cocaine to undercover agents, he holed up, presuming the alias "Barry Freed" and also undertaking cosmetic surgery to evade authorities. Throughout this period, he continued to be involved in environmental advocacy, helping to prevent the construction of a nuclear power plant on the St. Lawrence River in New York. After 6 years in hiding, he turned himself in to authorities in 1980 and also offered numerous months behind bars.

After his launch, Abbie Hoffman stayed dedicated to activism, concentrating specifically on ecological and anti-nuclear causes. In 1987, he released his autobiography, "Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture."

Regretfully, on April 12, 1989, Hoffman died from a willful medicine overdose at the age of 52. His contributions to American advocacy as well as counterculture remain to influence as well as influence generations of political activists, showing the power of innovative, pacifist protest as a way of effecting adjustment.

Our collection contains 20 quotes who is written / told by Abbie, under the main topic Society.

Related authors: John Cusack (Actor), Jerry Rubin (Activist), Lawrence Taylor (Athlete), Bobby Seale (Activist)

20 Famous quotes by Abbie Hoffman

"Structure is more important than content in the transmission of information"

"Once you get the right image the details aren't that important"

"I was probably the only revolutionary referred to as cute"

"Avoid all needle drugs, the only dope worth shooting is Richard Nixon"

"Become an internationalist and learn to respect all life. Make war on machines. And in particular the sterile machines of corporate death and the robots that guard them"

"To steal from a brother or sister is evil. To not steal from the institutions that are the pillars of the Pig Empire is equally immoral"

"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit"

"Understand that legal and illegal are political, and often arbitrary, categorizations; use and abuse are medical, or clinical, distinctions"

"The '60s are gone, dope will never be as cheap, sex never as free, and the rock and roll never as great"

"Expedience, not justice, is the rule of contemporary American law"

"Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger"

"Never impose your language on people you wish to reach"

"I believe in compulsory cannibalism. If people were forced to eat what they killed, there would be no more wars"

"A modern revolutionary group heads for the television station"

"The only way to support a revolution is to make your own"

"The first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it"

"When decorum is repression, the only dignity free men have is to speak out"

"Free speech means the right to shout 'theatre' in a crowded fire"

"The key to organizing an alternative society is to organize people around what they can do, and more importantly, what they want to do"

"You measure a democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists"