Part II: The Birth of Climbing
The hippie movement began in the 1960’s and found its peak in the Vietnam War in 1965. “The vast majority of hippies were young, white, middle-class men and women who felt alienated from mainstream middle-class society and resented the pressure to conform to the “normal” standards of appearance, employment or lifestyle. By wearing their hair long and growing beards (for the men), taking drugs and exploring spirituality outside of the confines of the Judeo-Christian tradition, hippies sought to find more meaning in life—or at least have a good time.”5 Hippies were most notably non-political with a loose philosophy of “politics of no politics.”6 Currently, that would be called out as complacency in the face of injustices happening around them at the time.
Being made up mostly of white middle class men and women, basic human rights were afforded to them without question due to inherited US structural practices. Policies of the times included redlining, segregation, and even excused murder of Black, Indigeneous, and/or People of Color (BIPOC). While white hippies were trying to drop out of society, BIPOC, most notably Black, were trying to drop in with what is known as the Civil Rights Movement…
Read or watch the entire article on my Substack
17 Dec 2020
Author: Crystal Rose H.
Cited Sources:
1. “WATER (IF ONLY THEY KNEW) ft. Mahalia.” YouTube, uploaded by KOJEY RADICAL, 19 Jun 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6CbtXl2JUM.
2. Athena, Emma. “A ‘Pretty’ Strong Step.” Boulder Weekly, 9 Jan 2020, https://www.boulderweekly.com/adventure/a-pretty-strong-step/, 13 Oct 2020.
3. Karlo, Kathy. “Welcome to No Man’s Land.” http://nomanslandfilmfestival.org/ 19 Jun 2018
4. “Hip Hop GONE WILD.” YouTube, uploaded by Becca Droz, 23 Sep 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAUZ3NBFx_w.
5. Pruitt, Sara. “How the Vietnam War Empowered the Hippie Movement” The History Channel, 18 Mar 2018,https://www.history.com/news/vietnam-war-hippies-counter-culture, 19 Jun 2018.
6. Pruitt, Sara. “How the Vietnam War Empowered the Hippie Movement” The History Channel, 18 Mar 2018,https://www.history.com/news/vietnam-war-hippies-counter-culture, 19 Jun 2018.
7. Alexander, Kurtis. “How the Miwuk Tribe is Reclaiming Part of Yosemite Valley” SF Gate, 27 Apr 2018, https://www.sfgate.com/science/article/How-the-Miwuk-tribe-is-reclaiming-part-of-12866845.php, 1 July 2020.
8. Jacobs, Jeremy P. and Hotakainen, Rob. “Racist roots, lack of diversity haunt national parks” E&E News, 25 Jun 2020, https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063447583, 15 July 2020.
9. Valley Uprising. Directed by Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen, 2014. 34:46
10. Repanshek, Kurt. “How The National Park Service Grappled With Segregation During The 20th Century” National Parks Traveler, 18 Aug 2019,
11. Johnson, Shelton. “The Green Book” National Parks Service, 5 Apr 2019, https://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/the-green-book.htm, 7 Aug 2020.
12. “Stats Report Viewer” National Parks Service, https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Annual%20Park%20Recreation%20Visitation%20(1904%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year)?Park=YOSE, 12 Aug 2020.
13. Sherman, Leonie. “Climbing Towards Justice” Adventure Sports Journal, 2 Aug 2019,https://adventuresportsjournal.com/climbing-towards-justice/, 12 Aug 2020.
14. Admin. “When You Stumble Upon Your Passion: How Chelsea Griffie found her calling to become a rock climber” Brown Girls Climb, 21 Mar 2018, https://www.browngirlsclimb.com/2018/03/21/stumble-upon-passion-chelsea-griffie-found-calling-become-rock-climber/, 12 Aug 2020.
Once again, great use of researched foot notes and yes “Hippie Counter Culture “was a choice —-being Black, Indigenous or POC was your insurmountable obstacle in attempting to “fit in”
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