As a response to Republican President Donald Trump’s administration, business partners Ravi DeRossi, Sother Teague and Max Green founded Coup – a pop-up bar which offers people a way to support causes threatened by the new administration.
“After the election we all just were depressed and we were all drinking too much and complaining about it,” says co-founder DeRossi.They were inspired to do something about it. Using old business space, they decided to open up an inclusive bar which would benefit organisations that are being defunded by the current administration as well as those that need money to fight against it. For instance, under Trump’s administration, there have been efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, which is a violation of women’s sexual and reproductive rights.
Coup donates one hundred percent of its profits to these causes. The bar has jars which are marked with the names of several different organisations. After you’ve paid for your drink, you are given a small wooden token. You then drop the token in the jar of the organisation of your choice – that way your money goes directly to the causes you wish to support. The list of organisational causes includes climate change, immigration reform and expansion, health care, criminal justice system reform- to name just a few.
“You walk around the room with the tokens because we are trying to encourage discussion and community”, says Ravi DeRossi.
The bar’s political message of resistance against Trump isn’t just through financial donations and an inclusive community, but it’s also evident in the décor. Anti-Trump protest signs such as “The pilgrims were undocumented” and “No, you cannot take my rights, I’m still using them” were recreated by artists and used as decoration and wallpaper for the bar.
Trump’s election as president of the United States left a lot of people feeling hopeless and unsure of how they can help those who will be most affected by his administration. For these people, co-founder DeRossi says that his bar is the perfect place where “you can get drunk and do something good”.
Established in April this year, this pop-up bar will be open for business for the next four years until Trump is out of the White House – they hope!
