Ethos of Human Be-In

 Having been advertised by the San Francisco Oracle, already present was an implicit notion of the purpose of the “gathering of the tribes”. As mentioned earlier, the Oracle was an underground newspaper that published 12 issues of poetry, spirituality and psychedelic art from 66’ to 68’, shaping the counterculture of Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco. As the Oracle published its fifth issue [advertising the Human Be-In] the newspaper had already established a credible presence within the neighborhood.  Behind the exotic tone of this poster, it maintained the ethos of this new counterculture movement. Their principles encompassed a fundamental questioning of authority, a focus on individuality, decentralization, ecological awareness, and consciousness expansion through cultural openness and the use of psychedelic drugs.  As the phenomenon of the “hippie” erupted into mainstream society, it transfixed the vulnerable public youth. 1967 was a peak in the transformation of a generation; the beginning of a new culture. 

Exigence In the Human Be-In Poster

The use of vivid colors and intrinsic detail in The Human Be-In poster draws attention to and creates a sense of urgency to inform the audience of various purposes. The hippie community was filled with outrage after the State of California passed a law banning the use of LSD. They believe that you can achieve higher consciousness and access your spiritual side with the aid of psychedelic drugs such as LSD. The poster conveys a mysterious, eerie tone, which leaves the audience intrigued as to what the pressing purpose of this poster is. There is also a pyramid with an eye at the top, which represents higher consciousness and higher beings. The spiritual, mystical tone that the poster portrays shows that there is much more to LSD than a dangerous drug. There is a deeper meaning and purpose behind LSD, and there is a deeper meaning behind this new found culture. The components of the poster conveys this dire need to let the world know who the hippies are, and demand respect for their new found culture. 

Audience of the Amnesty International Poster

The Amnesty International Movement spreads its message and hope through its actions and concerts. One concert in particular, the Amnesty concert in New York, happens every year with support from various famous artists such as Imagine Dragons and The Fray. The groups who perform at the concert all fight for the cause of the organization: justice for those violated of their human rights. They even have Madonna introducing the event to those who chose to attend. The audience, comprised of 3 million supporters of human rights, come together for this concert to give hope and strength to those violated and bring in new people. Current supporters are not the only audiences of this movement and concert, in fact, the goal of the organization and gathering aims to bring in new supporters and spread awareness of the problems we still see today. Their mission includes bringing to light the problems we have with human rights today, making sure everyone - no matter what race, gender identity, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation - has the same human rights as the next person next to them. The New York concert is a great way to get current and new supports to come together and have their voices heard.

-Antonio Borckardt

Amnesty International- So What? (Rhetoric for Text 2)

Amnesty International is a non-profit organization with over 3 million members that focuses its energy on human rights abuses around the world. The organization was founded in 1961 by Peter Benenson and aims to draw public attention to nations that let human rights abuses take place without an affirmative action. Amnesty International was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Price for its campaign against torture and the 1978 United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights. Thus, the organization has held several concerts to help spread its message such as the Secret Policeman's Ball event in London, the 1986 Conspiracy of Hope Concerts, and the 1988 Human Rights Now World Tour. The most recent concert took place in the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, New York just last year, featuring musicians such as Imagine Dragons, the Flaming Lips, Lauryn Hill, Tegan and Sara, the Fray, Colbie Caillat, Cake, and Pussy Riot. The aim of this concert is not simply an awareness project but a symbol of hope and collaboration between an array of artists. In this concert, Amnesty International conveys the need to halt human rights abuses through its selection of artists and its selection of poster formatting, color, and text. Pussy Riot is a Russian Feminist punk rock protest group that protests unjust laws of the Russian government and advocates for LGBT rights within Europe. It is important to note that Amnesty chose Pussy Riot to perform at the concert in order to convey the urgency of the situation and use Pussy Riot as a tool to underscore human rights. The organization also paired with a new generation of artists to inspire a new generation of activists. Thus, Amnesty used the musicians as a rhetorical tool to highlight issues such as the plight of the LGBT community, human trafficking, criminal justice, and workers' rights. Amnesty's past reputation is also a rhetorical tool because the audience expects a combination between rights advocacy and music, something Amnesty has done successfully in the past. Lastly, the poster has a man's silhouette in a hopeful stance, which is set to appeal not only to rock fans but also to all music fans. The bright yellow symbolizes the organization's ambitions while the black aims to highlight the serious issues at hand. The dream behind the organization and the symbolism of the poster and the movement thus draw out the rhetorical appeal of this text.  

Audience of the Human Be-In

Announced on the cover of the fifth issue of the SanFrancisco Oracle as "A Gathering of the Tribes for a Human Be-In," this psychedelic festival was the exemplar of all 1960s counter culture celebrations. The San Francisco Oracle was an underground newspaper—publishing 12 issues from September of 66’ to February 68’—in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. The Oracle had a concentrated audience of students at Stanford and Berkley-- who were considered part of non-political and radical hippie subcultures, respectively. The newspaper was extremely influential in the shaping of the counterculture of Haight-Ashbury, which helped popularize the advertising of the Human Be-In. As noted in the poster, the Human Be-In was to expect mainly local artists and poets but also Michael Bowen, creator of the San Francisco Oracle and initiator for this psychedelic event, had artist Stanley Mouse create a poster, giving him a photograph by Casey Sonnabend. Stanley was considered to be a "godfather of psychedelic art" making him influential to this forming subculture. While many may not have been familiar with the event as there, the psychedelic presentation of this poster certainly has an attraction to the community at the time. The phrasing used "Gathering of the Tribes," truly possesses this idea of a separate culture from mainstream society. It certainly encompasses the focus of the event to bring together those with a common purpose of personal empowerment, cultural and political decentralization, ecological awareness, and other various values of the emerging hippie movement