Lest you think that liberals just spend all their time venerating bygone justices and pondering abstruse legal arguments, the Providence faction of Drinking Liberally is reemerging next week at the Wild Colonial. Congrats to Chris and the other organizers.
Many political groups struggle to attract new members. Maybe that’s because they don’t promote drinking booze during meetings, like the new chapter of Drinking Liberally set to meet in Providence later in the month.
There are more than 230 Drinking Liberally chapters around the country, according to the group’s Web site that promotes the slogan: “Promoting democracy one pint at a time.”
Most of the hosts of the Providence chapter are also active members of the Rhode Island Young Democrats.
“Drinking Liberally is an informal, inclusive progressive social group that gives like-minded, left-leaning individuals a place to talk politics over a beer,” one of the hosts, Boston lawyer Chris Blazejewski, told Political Scene. (There are eight Drinking Liberally chapters in Massachusetts.)
Other hosts include Kim Ahern, Rhode Island’s student coordinator for the Barack Obama campaign; Matt Jerzyk, editor of the left-leaning blog RIFuture.org; Aggie Wein, of the Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group; and Julian Dash, a local real estate developer and president of the Rhode Island Black PAC.
Who can join?
“You don’t need to be a policy expert and this isn’t a book club,” reads the Web site. “Just come and learn from peers, trade jokes, vent frustration and hang out in an environment where it’s not taboo to talk politics. Bars are democratic spaces; you talk to strangers, you share booths, you feel the bond of common ground.”
In the interest of public safety, the Web site also encourages members to “remember to drink responsibly, and make liberal use of designated drivers. Drinking and driving is reckless and irresponsible, like a neocon war or corporatist tax cut.”
The first meeting is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Jan. 23 at The Wild Colonial, 250 South Water St., Providence.