One of several iconic pot protest shots of Allen, this by Benedict J Fernandez, December 1964. Allen once referred to it as the first ‘pro legalization protest ever’, it’s at the steps of the Department of Welfare building, now the Christodora, Ave B & 9th Street, NYC. • • Larry Sloman in his ‘Reefer Madness’ amusingly writes: “Besides, I had always loved the poster of Ginsberg that was sold in the mid-sixties, the one where he was wearing a huge placard at an early marijuana demonstration like some bearded, horn-rimmed rent-a-vagrant advertising three-dollar haircuts, a styrofoam of coffee gingerly held aloft, with a light snow topping almost bald pate like white laurel leaves. The sign, crudely hand-lettered, read “Pot Is Fun,” and the sly, sheepish–no, elfish–grin on Ginsberg’s face was testomony to that” (New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1998, pp. 171-172). • props to aphelis.net for the great research on this! #420 #allenginsberg #pot #legalize #potisfun #christodora #poet #poetrycommunity #larrysloman #reefermadness
