Are you overwhelmed by the Trump administration? Does the Republican assault on our social programs stress you out? Are you concerned about the rollbacks of national monuments and regulatory rules? Do the Trump administration’s racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic policies worry you? Do you fear the possibility of nuclear war? Do you lie awake at night wondering how we’re going to get out of this mess?
That kind of anxiety is what pushed Ravi DeRossi, a New York City bar and restaurant owner, to open Coup, a bar where all of the profits go to organizations either defunded by the Trump administration or actively waging a fight against it. In a video posted after the bar’s opening, DeRossi explains his motivations.
“We have six jars located around the room, and each one will have a different organization. With each drink, you’ll get a little wooden coin, and then you put the coin into the jar of your choosing, and at the end of the month, after we cover our costs, all the rest will be donated. So as the owner, I won’t take a dime.”
DeRossi responded to Trump’s 2016 like the rest of us – he felt sick, anxious, and pulled to enter politics in any way that he could. He followed through in the best way he knew how, as he puts it, “drinking and complaining.”
“When I first realized that Trump was going to win the election, it was like being in high school or junior high school when you get bullied and you have that sick feeling in your stomach. I just had this epiphany and said let’s turn this despair or this anger we have into something more positive.”
DeRossi has since closed Coup’s original location and opted for anti-Trump pop-ups at other locations around the city. His efforts are a prime example of how businesses can do their part to fight back and give back simultaneously.
Everybody is welcome to have a drink at Coup, even Trump supporters, although regardless of their affiliation, the profits will still support the resistance.
Let’s all take DeRossi’s example and fight back in ways we can contribute – even if it’s merely supporting businesses that are making efforts to resist. A positive, collective movement is just what America needs to create a world that works for all of us.
