History of abate

There's an old saying that goes, "You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been." For those of us in the biker's right movement, those words are especially true. We need to understand our history if we're going to continue to grow. We need to realize that the goals and objectives we started out with are the same ones we have today, and that even though there has been changes in the issues we face and in how we do things, the basic principles remain the same. With that in mind, let's take a trip down memory lane, and see where the MRF fits into this picture.

In the late 1960's, Easyriders Magazine, at the urging of motorcycle clubs, began working on a nationwide effort to protect the rights of bikers. In the process of defining this new movement, they came up with the acronym ABATE, which stood for "A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments". Easyriders' choice of ABATE as an acronym was no accident. Webster defines the word abate as "to beat down; to put an end to; to nullify; to reduce in degree or intensity." In the counter-cultural times of the late 60's, the prevailing mood was, "its us against them", with "them" being Big Brother in all his controlling forms. The job at hand was to nullify the intrusion of the government into our lives, with a major emphasis on eliminating mandatory helmet laws.

In its infancy, ABATE was a loosely-knit organization. Memberships were sent in to and managed by Easyriders. State level activists - along with the folks at Easyriders - realized that locally that controlled organizations were needed, and the bike's rights movement began to spread as State Motorcyclists' Rights Organization (SMRO) started popping up around the country. Between the early 70's and mid - 80's most of the SMROs we know today came into being as independent, autonomous organizations.

Many state groups formed under the name of ABATE, while others chose different acronyms such as the MMA(Modified Motorcycle Association) or NHMRO(New Hampshire Motorcyclist Rights Organization). Likewise, some of the ABATE organizations stuck with Easyriders' original meaning of A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactment, while others went with variations such as American Bikers Aimed Toward Education, or A Brotherhood Active Toward Education. Some groups were formed only to go out of existence a short time later, and others sprang up to take their place. Throughout all of this, even though the names of the SMROs and the players involved changed as the movement grew, the basic goals and objectives were firmly in place.