In April 1969, the building of People’s Park in Berkeley, California received international attention. The University of California, Berkeley had demolished all the buildings on a 2.8-acre (11,000m2) parcel near campus, intending to use the land to build playing fields and a parking lot. After a long delay, during wich the site became a dangerous eyesore, thousands of ordinary Berkeley citizens, merchants, students, and hippies took matters into their own hands, planting trees, shrubs, flowers and grass to convert the land into a park. A major confrontation ensued on May 15, 1969, when governor Ronald Reagan ordered the park destroyed, which led to a two-week occupation of the city of Berkeley by the United States National Guard. Flower Power came into its own during this occupation as hippies engaged in acts of civil desobedience to plants flowers in empty lots all cover Berkeley over the slogan “Let A Thousand Parks Bloom”.

In August 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair Took place in Bethel, New York, which for many exemplified the best of hippie counterculture. Over 500,000 people arrived to hear the most notable musicians and band of the era, among them Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Carlos Santana, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, and Jimi Hendrix. Wavy Gravy’s Hog Farm provided security and attended to practical needs, and the hippies ideals of love and human fellowship seemed to have gained real-world expression.

In December 1969, a similar event took place in Altamont, California, about 30 miles (45 km) east of San Fransisco. Initially billed as “Woodstock West” , its official name was The Altamont Free Concert . About 300,000 people gathered to hear The Rolling Stones; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Jefferson airplane and other bands. The Hells Angels provided security that proved far less benevolent than the security provided at the Woodstock event : 18-year-old Meredith Hunter was stabbed and killed during the Rolling Stones performance.

 

Un avion-espion américain abattu. Nixon ne réagit pas.