The Beat Generation was a literary movement started by a group of poets & writers whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The end of World War II left young intellectuals questioning the mainstream politics and culture of their parents, as well as a society which had sold them the American Dream as a lie, and which had been a party to the horrors of war abroad, and to poverty & brutality across America. And as a result, the Beat generation emerged; writers, poets, musicians & artists interested in changing societal consciousness and defying conventional boundaries. The battle against social conformity and literary tradition were key elements of Beat culture. They chose to reject standard narrative values, reject economic materialism, explore spirituality, shine a light on explicit portrayals of the human condition, experiment with psychedelic drugs, and freely explore sexual liberation. All rather taboo subjects in the 40's, 50's & 60's. Poetry and literature became the focus of obscenity trials that ultimately helped to ensure Freedom of Speech in publishing in the United States. It was Kerouac who introduced the phrase "Beat Generation" in 1948 to characterize a perceived underground, anti-conformist youth movement. Beat described the mood of a disillusioned generation of young people let down by the adults they'd been told to trust. The Beats changed the landscape of our culture by incorporating poetry, art & music into a powerful voice for the marginalized, the oppressed, and the misunderstood.

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