How the Lessons of 9500 Liberty Led to the Coffee Party
On Sept 26th, 2010 at 8pm ET MTV will premiere 9500 Liberty. Annabel Park, explains how the lessons of 9500 Liberty, documenting how the extremists dominated the debate over immigration in Prince William County, VA in 2007 & 2008, inspired her to start the Coffee Party movement. The main lesson: the silent, disengaged majority must wake up and participate before extremists take over our governments.
http://www.coffeepartyusa.com/content/how-lesssons-9500-liberty-led-coffee-party
http://www.9500Liberty.com
MTV Tr3s website for “9500 Liberty” with exclusive bonus features
http://www.tr3s.com/shows/featured/9500-liberty/
I wanted to share this review of a film that I co-directed, 9500 Liberty, with you because it chrystalizes the underlying critique of America’s political process that led me and Eric to start the Coffee Party.
From the Boston Globe, 9/10/2010
“9500 Liberty” is not just about the clash of immigrant Hispanics and white nativists, but about what happens when a community’s civic machinery is hijacked by ideologues and extremists — and what exactly it takes for the silent center to push back.”
“A cynic might observe that the latter got involved only when they saw their property values start to decline. An optimist would take heart in the palpable outrage of citizens — trembling this time with indignation — who have remembered almost too late that scoundrels are emboldened by silence. 9500 Liberty is both an inspiration and a warning.”
If I hadn’t documented the process by which extremists took over the government in Prince William County, VA, I wouldn’t have started the Coffee Party. The truth is, we are all vulnerable to extremist tactics — at all levels of government. This is a loophole in our democratic process. The way to close this loophole is this: 1) Get Information out 2) Build a sense of community by creating a place where people can meet — both face-to-face and online 3) Show up and participate.
In short: Information, Community, Participation.
The brave citizens of Prince William County — Republicans, Democrats, religious leaders, business leaders, and stay-at-home moms — managed to achieve this in order to win control of their government. The process is documented in 9500 Liberty, and written about in today’s review.
Duration : 0:3:48
This is what I WILL …
This is what I WILL support! Count me in!
Hope to see at …
Hope to see at least some individual candidates graft some features presented here onto or into their planned ad campaigns as November approaches. Believe the “culture” of political advertising has become it’s own creature over decades & decades – getting louder & more negative as election day draws near – that quiet voices of reason, listening & tolerance may well stand out among all the yelling.