Coffee Party USA

Coffee Party

File:CoffeeParty.jpg
Formation	January 26, 2010
Region served	United States
Website	CoffeePartyUSA.com

The Coffee Party USA is a grassroots political movement that was initially formed in January, 2010, as an alternative to the Tea Party movement.

The Coffee Party USA officially identifies itself as a 501(c)(4) social benefit organization. The organization's mission states that it is based on the underlying principle that the government is "not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges we face as Americans." Its slogan is "Wake Up and Stand Up." Its stated goals include getting cooperation in government and removing corporate influence from politics.

The organization's first National Coffee Party Day was held on March 13, 2010.

History

Origins

The Coffee Party USA was established on January 26, 2010, on the social networking site Facebook. It was founded by documentary filmmakers and political activists Annabel Park and Eric Byler. It was launched "to mild public curiosity" and the "receded from public view.

In March 2011, the organization announced the dissolution of its interim board, and the establishment of a larger Transition Team charged with creating an organizational infrastructure and a permanent Board. The move followed "a schism with the progressive wing of the Coffee Party and its leadership" and "the failure to counter the power and energy of the tea party movement." Several ousted board members "paint[ed] a general picture of organizational chaos" and "pointed to a lack of civility in the organization, a lack of democracy and a lack of consultation."

Reception

The Coffee Party has been referred to by the media as "more academic and centrist than some of its members had hoped for but nevertheless, it is a timely and welcome development of a more intellectual form of political activism"; "a latte-sipping, liberal reaction to the populist conservative Tea Party movement"; "left-leaning"; a group that "welcomes everyone and embraces diversity -- ethnic, geographical and even political diversity"; and "a liberal-esque and pro-Obama answer to the conservative tea party movement" with meetings that are "visibly more diverse than the average tea party gathering."

Coffee Party spokesman Camron Moore, a self-identified Republican, said the movement is neither liberal nor conservative, and even Tea Partiers are welcomed to crash their party. The Coffee Party addresses the issue directly, stating "Coffee Party USA is not liberal, centrist, progressive, or conservative. [It] is best described as a grassroots movement calling on all Americans to become active citizens. Members and leaders nationwide have diverse orientations, diverse affiliations, and diverse political experience. No single person's previous participation or expression reflects the entirety of the organization."

Political positions

After holding a National Coffee Summit and several votes and polls utilizing internet technology, the Coffee Party determined that the overwhelming concern of its members was money in politics, with "95 percent of members voting for a specific course of action, based on support for the Fair Elections Now Act, the DISCLOSE Act, the Shareholder Protection Act and a constitutional amendment to reverse corporate personhood."

Additional areas of concern involved issues of environment, clean energy and immigration reform.

Events

National Coffee House day

The Coffee Party held its initial National Coffee House day event on March 13, 2010. Some 370 events took place across the US and the world, including Tokyo and Jakarta, with the intent to "encourage our existing and soon-to-form chapters to facilitate informative and civil dialogue about issues that affect all of us, collectively. We will ask them to report back to us on what consensus they reach, and take action from there."

National Coffee Summit

On March 27, 2010, approximately 500 Coffee Party meetings took place across the United States. Coffee Party co-founder Annabel Park participated in one of the meetings, which was covered by C-SPAN and was crowded, and she observed that not all of the participants were behaving in a civil manner. Newsweek reported, "They were angry. They hated the Tea Party, and the Republican Party. They wanted to get even. One audience member said America was under the thumb of oligarchs and denounced 'moneyed interests.' A few people hissed when Sarah Palin's name was mentioned. Also on hand were the usual suspects drawn to the C-Span bat signal." Some in the crowd even decided they wanted a new leader for the movement, "not someone that says we can all work together." Park said later, "If they want to fire me, this may not be the group for them. We don't want conflict and confrontation."

Coffee Party Convention

The First Annual Coffee Party Convention was held at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky from September 24 to 26, 2010. Some 350 chapter leaders and organizers met to hone their message before heading across the country in an effort to get people involved in what it considers a responsible way. Featured events included a "Mock Constitutional Convention" co-chaired by Republican communication strategist for Bush and McCain, Mark McKinnon, and Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig; Across the Political Divide: A Transpartisan Dialogue with Joseph McCormick and a roundtable with journalist Linda Killian of U.S. News and World Report on the question, "What Can We Do for Our Country?" There were also scheduled workshops and panel discussions including members of both major political parties, chairwoman Amy Kremer of the Tea Party Express and co-founder Annabel Park of the Coffee Party.

External links

• Official Coffee Party website.
• Official Coffee Party Facebook page