The Beatniks And The Civil Rights Movement

Introduction The Beatniks were a very misunderstood group of people. They didn’t exactly understand themselves either, they would often try to explore themselves through drugs, sex, and art (Berg 2002). They drew inspiration from the earlier Beat Movement authors. Those Beat Movement authors tried to dissociate themselves from the Beatniks, but with little success. The Beatniks faced a lot of flack from the rest of the population and the media for the way they dressed and their lingo. The Beatniks originated from sound teachings, but their overzealous attitudes, mannerisms, and beliefs ostracized themselves from the rest of society (Huddleston 2012).

History

The Beat Movement originated from a group of friends who were authors, publishers,

They tried escaping from those obsessions through whatever means necessary, whether that be by sex, drugs or eastern religion. They felt like the post-war society was too comfortable. They felt like there might not be a tomorrow, so they strived to live each day to the fullest (Huddleston 2012). With that said, many of them did not hold jobs, but instead wrote poems depicting their beliefs and reading them in coffeehouses. That sort of propaganda scared the average American. Americans were afraid that the Beat’s immoral messages would cross state borders. And it did, the authors of the Beat Generation traveled from Greenwich Village in New York City to San Francisco (“The Beat” 2003). While the interest in the Beat Generation generally stayed in the start and endpoints of the journey, it was enough to create buzz. Enough buzz was created that their adventures were published in Kerouac’s On the Road, and Dharma Bums, Burroughs’ Junkie and Naked Lunch, and Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems. Needless to say, their books were controversial and pushed the limits. In Ginsberg’s and Burroughs’ cases, their publishers were put on trial because it was thought that their books were too obscene, and needed to be censored. In both cases the publisher’s were found innocent, but the books were still banned in many

So what is true is a little blurry (Huddleston 2012). The stereotypical beatnik man would be wearing a beret, sandals, a turtleneck, and a goatee. There would be a pair of bongos nearby (Pappas 2014). The average beatnik woman would wear a black leotard, short skirt, dark eyeshadow, and pale lips (“Beat Movement” 2009). They would both be in a coffeehouse listening to jazz music, possibly smoking a joint. When they spoke, there would be a lot of slang words such as “Daddy-O” “chick” “hip” “far out” and “groovy.” They practically had their own language that is derived from jazz music. When they got home they would probably crack open a beer and then have sex (“The Beat”