Boulder County could see a revived NAACP chapter within the next several weeks, according to a man pushing to revive the dormant local branch.
Kenneth Flowe shared that vision with a crowd of dozens at the Meadows Library in Boulder on Friday afternoon. Flowe and other organizers gathered the group to gauge interest in resurrecting the branch after former local branch leadership voted last year to dissolve it, followed by an ongoing lawsuit by the national NAACP against eight of the former members. The national NAACP has maintained that only it has the authority to dissolve the branch.
But Friday’s meeting spent little time dwelling on the past, and many attendees appeared to support reviving the group. They expressed urgency, citing the political climate and a need to support people of color in the county.
Omar Montgomery, a member of the NAACP National Board of Directors and former president of the Aurora NAACP branch, joined via Zoom. He stressed that Friday’s meeting was “exploratory” and that he’ll have more clarity on the next steps for potentially reviving the Boulder County branch after the national NAACP convention in Chicago later this month.
“National is aware that there’s an interest, and that at the same time, what would be the proper steps for that to move forward?” said Montgomery, who lives in Colorado but was on vacation in California. He later added: “There’s really some stuff that we need to get done and we still need confirmation from national that this is the direction that national (wants to go).”
Flowe was a member of the previous branch leadership.
While Friday’s turnout and audience response reflected a desire to revive the branch, the national organization still needs to hammer out specifics regarding a Boulder County branch.
It’s possible that those in attendance on Friday could form a group that essentially serves the same missions as the NAACP but doesn’t have the name. Some attendees discussed the idea of raising funds for scholarships usually doled out by the local branch while the specifics are figured out.
Montgomery stressed that those specifics were too embedded in ongoing litigation.
When one audience member asked Flowe whether there was a chance that the national organization wouldn’t recognize the revived branch, he said, “Not gonna happen.”
One attendee asked Montgomery and Flowe about reconciling with the former members of the local branch.
“I hope we can get to a point, because Boulder’s not that big, where we all could be on the same page, because it’s not about our individual personal grievances. It’s not about any of those things,” Montgomery said. “It’s about what does it look like for the mission and (a historic) civil rights organization (in the U.S.) to continue to grow within the community.”
The former members being sued by the national organization are Judy Hutson, Annett James, Gabriela Kioupakis, Judith Landsman, Darren O’Connor, Lawrence Pevec, Glenda Strong-Robinson and Madelyn Woodley.
Kunlong Cousin, an attendee on Friday, told the room that, no matter the litigation, he believes the old leadership still did good work in the community and that it’s important to continue down that path.
“Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Cousin said, commending the previous leadership for their work. “However, without this (branch) we will see ourselves going backward instead of forward. Especially in a time period right now that says, ‘Hey, I’m deputizing you to be mean to people, to not treat people correctly.’”
Elijah Graham, 23, doesn’t think there’s enough support for people of color in Boulder County without the NAACP. He also said it’s important for younger people to be involved in this effort to usher in the future, as well.
“We have different views than what all these people have,” said Graham, who attended the meeting. “To be able to have them hear what we have to say and then actually listen, I feel like that means something.”
The former Boulder County NAACP leadership voted to dissolve in March 2025 amid a long public feud with the city of Boulder. The conflict is tied to now-Chief of Police Stephen Redfearn’s presence in the Boulder Police Department. Redfearn was with the Aurora Police Department in 2019 and was on duty the night Elijah McClain, an unarmed Black man, encountered Aurora police, which eventually led to his death. Redfearn changed the dispatch code on the incident from suspicious person to assault on an officer. The Boulder County NAACP has said the handling of the case “reeks of a cover-up.” Boulder’s city manager issued a statement saying Redfearn’s changing of the dispatch code was “standard protocol,” according to previous reporting.
Redfearn joined Boulder’s police department in 2021 and was appointed chief in 2024. The Boulder County NAACP had called for the resignation of Redfearn. Redfearn was at Friday’s meeting and supported the Boulder County branch’s revival.
In July 2024, tensions reached a boil during a failed mediation meeting. City officials maintain that meeting was private, and a recording from that meeting ended up released to the public. Boulder City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde filed a formal complaint with the national NAACP against the Boulder County branch in December of that year. Then came last year’s vote to dissolve.
In the national organization’s lawsuit, the eight defendants filed a motion to dismiss last month that contested claims of breaching their fiduciary duty and damaging the reputation of the NAACP, both of which are central arguments in the NAACP’s lawsuit. The national NAACP disputed those claims in a response filed on Thursday.
Separately, O’Connor has sued the city of Boulder, Rivera-Vandermyde and Redfearn for allegedly violating his “right to be free from retaliation for exercising his freedom of speech and for engaging in a conspiracy to violate plaintiff’s constitutional rights under the Colorado Constitution and the United States Constitution,” according to a legal complaint filed last year.
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