After the 2016 national election, I was pretty frustrated and unsure how to maintain a sense of hope. I think many around me felt the same. We were surprised that Americans voted against democratic progress, compassionate leadership, social infrastructure for more people. We were reminded again that feminist movements over the past two hundred years had helped institute some rights, but that women’s voices are disqualified by men’s. We were reminded that some people are desperate enough to do anything (to anyone) for power—for more money, land, and fame. We were reminded that racism is overwhelmingly systemic in this country. We were surprised that the backlash was quite so mean.
And so, in January of 2017, Donald Trump became the head of the Executive branch of our government. It moved me to march in the streets, buoyed by the company of thousands of other people around the world. The situation also made me want a strong drink (bonus if I could imbibe in the company of smart, sympathetic friends who would make me laugh.) After one such night, mourning the impending loss of affordable health care coverage, the “Affordable Cocktail Act” (ACA) was born. Marilyn Zornado and Barb Tetenbaum have organized many a themed cocktail event, so with their lead, we pulled together a small gathering of artist friends to host a competition and asked them to invent drinks to express the politics of the moment. We mixed and tasted and laughed and shed a few tears as we made drinks like “The No! You’re the Puppet!”, “The Flaming Sinful Cheater” (complete with charred cheetos as garnish), and the “Environmental Deregulation Toddy”. We voted. The winner was “The Pussy Grabber” followed closely by “The Alt-White” and “The Im-peach-mint” cocktails.
Over the last three plus years the ACA has convened occasionally to educate, share resources and advocate on issues important to us, sometimes at each other’s homes, and sometimes at a friend’s bar (thanks, Likewise!). Topics have included land use and conservation, equal rights, climate change, race and immigration, health care, affordable housing and houselessness. We have partially used art as a lens to express and explore politics in our society, looking at other other artists’ work, and letting the issues influence our own approach to navigating this time.
And we have kept up the themed cocktails, but dropped the competition. Our latest get-together was for May Day 2020, which meant we had an online gathering. While our “8 hours for work, 8 for rest, 8 for what you will” were all topsy-turvy, we managed to share some recipes for quarantine drinks and reflect upon what we have found essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. Above is my submission for the occassion.
Despite the often serious nature of the topics, we always manage to have a few good laughs, which is the best medicine against despair that I know.
