Happy Birthday, Coffee Party USA--A Timeline #coffeepartyusa
A year ago today, Coffee Party USA started off as a rant on someone's Facebook page. Today, it is a political movement with more than 340,000 supporters.
As Eric Byler wrote today on Coffee Party USA's website:
It was a year ago today, January 26, 2010, that the Coffee Party began as a Facebook fan page, Join the Coffee Party Movement. It quickly spread from a virtual town hall to a truly grassroots movement with chapters across the nation.
Join me, one of the New Media Outreach Coordinators for Coffee Party USA, over the fold for a timeline of Coffee Party USA's first year.
Below adapted and extended from the timeline on the Coffee Party USA website.
Coffee Party Timeline
January 26, 2010
Annabel Park's Facebook status update sparks the Coffee Party movement.
"let's start a coffee party . . . smoothie party. red bull party. anything but tea. geez. ooh how about cappuccino party? that would really piss 'em off bec it sounds elitist . . . let's get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion."
Her message hits a nerve. The thousands of responses to her rant from people all over the country signals to Park that she must do something more. About 1:30 P.M., she creates the Join the Coffee Party Movement fan page on Facebook.
February 10, 2010
Eric Byler and Annabel Park record the first two videos to be uploaded to Coffee Party USA's YouTube channel. The first one filmed features Annabel Park explaining the origin of Coffee Party USA, while the second is an interview of Salim Michel, a salon owner in Washington, D.C.
Domain name registered for coffeepartyusa.com.
February 12, 2010
The interview of Salim Michel is uploaded to Coffee Party USA's YouTube channel. It is the first of a series of videos giving voice to everyday Americans.
Click to viewFebruary 14, 2010
The video of Annabel Park describing the origin of Coffee Party USA is posted to YouTube. In it, she calls for cooperation rather than obstruction in Congress, along with a more responsible political discourse that is fact-based rather than fear-based.
February 17, 2010
Join the Coffee Party Movement San Antonio creates their Facebook page, the first of more than 160 local chapters to create pages for their groups on Facebook.
February 19, 2010
Join the Coffee Party Movement Atlanta Facebook page, Join Coffee Party Movement Chicago, and Join the Coffee Party Movement D.C. join the San Antonio chapter in creating their Facebook pages.
February 22, 2010
Coffee Party USA's website goes live.
February 26, 2010
The Washington Post prints Dan Zak's story, the first major media outlet to cover Coffee Party USA.
February 26-27th, 2010
More Coffee Party chapters begin forming across the U.S. Tens of thousands begin using Facebook fan page and makeshift Coffee Party website as virtual town halls.
March 1-7, 2010
Coffee Party USA has 90,000+ fans on Facebook.
March 1, 2010
Kate Zernike covers Coffee Party USA in the New York Times.
March 2, 2010
Annabel Park appears on the Dylan Ratigan show on MSNBC.
March 3, 2010
CNN interviews Annabel Park.
March 8, 2010
CNN covers the first Coffee Party meetings, concentrating on the Baltimore Coffee Party.
March 11, 2010
Annabel Park begins podcasting on Coffee Party USA's Blog Talk Radio channel.
March 12, 2010
CNN previews the Coffee Party National Kick-off.
March 13, 2010
Coffee Party National Kick-off: Thousands participate in nearly 400 meetings at coffee shops and restaurants across the U.S. CNN covers the meeting at Busboys and Poets.
March 18, 2010
CNN posts a guest editorial by Annabel Park.
March 22, 2010
Coffee Party members choose two issue priorities, Financial Reform and Campaign Finance Reform, in on-line vote.
March 27, 2010
National Coffee Party Summit includes nearly 500 meetings across the U.S. Darrel West (Brookings Institute), and Linda Killian (Politico) join Annabel Park in Coffee Party event broadcast on C-SPAN.
March 29 - April 10, 2010
Coffee with Congress initiative facilitates meetings between citizens and their Senators and Congress Members
April 10, 2010
Coffee Party leaders decide to consciously avoid the media narrative that the Coffee Party is the enemy, or opposite of the Tea Party, focusing instead on turning the nation's attention to matters of substance, systemic issues that that impede progress in government:
(1) corrupting influence of money in politics
(2) hyper-partisianship that produces gridlock
(3) well-funded misinformation campaigns.
Recognizing that these are big challenges that require a long-term strategy, not just a focus the current election cycle, Coffee Party asks members to start building relationships with their representatives and with their communities.
April 15, 2010
Coffee Party hosts panel discussion: "Ending the Partisan Warfare in America."
Phil Lawson presents results of Coffee Sphere.
April 17 - April 25
Coffee Party USA launches Campus Coffee Week to engage college students in the political process.
April 23, 2010
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signs S.B. 1070. Annabel Park and Eric Byler's documentary film “9500 Liberty” is thrust into theatrical release in Arizona, and then in cities around the country. (The film chronicles the only 8 weeks in American history where an "Arizona-style" immigration crack-down was actually implemented). Thanks to "9500 Liberty" theatrical tour, Park and Byler visit over 30 Coffee Party chapters in cities around the US.
April 24, 2010
YouTube video depicts Prof. Lawrence Lessig introducing Coffee Party USA's Clean Up Wall Street" and "Clean up K Street" campaigns in support of financial reform and campaign finance/Fair ElectionS reform.
May 6, 2010
As part of the Clean Up K Street and Clean Up Wall Street campaigns, representatives of Coffee Party USA hand-delivered petitions and coffee beans to Senators on Capitol Hill with the message: Please wake up and smell the coffee; Americans want strong financial reform.
May 12, 2010
Coffee Party USA launches its "Coffee with Main Street" campaign, which continues until the end of June.
May 24, 2010
Louisville, Kentucky, selected as site of first Coffee Party Convention, to be held September 24-26, 2010.
June 12-20, 2010
Local chapters host meetings for the National Coffee Summit on Corporate Personhood and Money in Politics as part of Coffee Party USA's Coffee with Main Street Campaign.
June 21-28, 2010
Coffee Party USA holds a national vote on whether or not to support any current legislative efforts to address the challenges of Campaign Finance Reform and Corporate Personhood. The 3,100 people participating respond overwhelmingly that they are very concerned about the role of money in politics and that the Citizens United decision would increase the ability of corporate spending to influence elections. They also vote overwhelmingly that Coffee Party USA should support legislative efforts to control money in elections, including the Fair Elections Now Act, the DISCLOSE Act, and the Shareholder Protection Act of 2010. The voters also strongly support Coffee Party USA participating in bringing about a constitutional amendment that would reverse the Citizens United ruling.
June 26, 2010
Coffee Party USA partners with AmericaSpeaks to host "Our Budget, Our Economy" as part of its Coffee with Main Street Campaign.
July 4, 2010
Declaration of Unity initiative unveiled.
July 10-15, 2010
Coffee Party members including Annabel Park visit the Gulf Coast to support of those affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. Annabel and others post the videos of their experiences to Coffee Party USA's YouTube page.
September 24-26, 2010
Coffee Party Convention in Louisville, Kentucky: Chapter leaders from 40 states around the country meet in person for the first time. Keynote speeches by Lawrence Lessig and Mark McKinnon galvanize Coffee Party leaders on the issue of money in politics, leading to the For the People Summit January 20-22, 2011. Lt. Dan Choi gives a moving presentation about repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
September 26, 2010
“9500 Liberty” premieres on MTV Networks.
October 8, 2010
Coffee Party Facebook Fan page reaches 300,000 members. Coffee Party U Facebook fan page begins to attract college and pre-college students.
October 30, 2010
Coffee Party USA participates in Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity.
November 2, 2010
Coffee Party USA announces For The People Summit on its website.
November 8, 2010
Coffee Party USA vows to make Money in Politics an election issue for 2012.
December 20, 2010
Movement for the People domain name registered.
January 2, 2011
Coffee Party USA helps launch Movement for the People website and Facebook page.
January 6, 2011
Coffee Party co-founder Eric Byler launches interactive web series about the Corporate-Person American movement, to raise awareness about the legal construction of "corporate personhood" as a justification for legislating from the bench in favor of corporate power. Americans across the country respond with videos asking, "If corporations can now be people, why can't people be corporations?"
January 9, 2011
In wake of the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, Coffee Party USA circulates a petition to end violent rhetoric.
January 13, 2011
Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Coffee Connect newsletter posted.
January 20-22, 2011
Coffee Party USA participates in the For the People Summit, the kick-off of a national effort designed to respond to the issue of money in politics and the reckless Citizens United decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. A January 21st event in Washington, D.C., marked the first anniversary of the decision, which gave international corporations the right to spend unlimited money to influence American elections. C-SPAN3 covers the first day's events live. For more coverage, read the articles in Truthout and The Nation and watch the video from Iran's Press TV.
January 23, 2011
Coffee Party USA reaches 340,000+ fans on Facebook.
January 26, 2011
Coffee Party USA celebrates the first anniversary of its founding.
Above crossposted to Daily Kos.