Annabel touches upon her family's experience of the Korean War, and her experience making 9500 Liberty documenting the immigration culture war in Prince William County, Virginia in 2007 and 2008 — two chapters of her life that have informed and inspired her leadership of the Coffee Party movement.
She has always rejected the "us vs. them" attitude to political differenes. Extremist tactics — the politics of division and fear — shrink participation because most of us are programmed to avoid situations where others behave in a warlike manner. Less participation benefits special interists, lobbyists, and fringe groups that seek to manipulate our democracy. But it does not benefit the country as a whole. The simple fact is, without participation, there is no democracy. And when participation is low, we are vulnerable to extremists and/or monied interests taking over our government.
That's why it's imperative that we take steps to encourage participation from all Americans in our political process by creating a space where people with diverse perspectives and from diverse backgrounds can feel welcome, respected, and engaged.
Coffee Party can best achieve this, and other goals such as encouraging a more informed electorate that thinks "outside of the box," by being fact-based, solutions-oriented, and non-partisan, which really means being open-minded and inclusive. It's hard to think "out of the box" if all the contributors think alike. Annabel expands upon this thought here:
