As #blacklivesmatter protests continue in Greeley, new opportunities emerge to make a difference

Brenda Vargas walks at the front of the group of marching protestors with Gavin Hamilton on Friday, July 10, 2020 along 47th Avenue by Monfort Park in Greeley. Photo by Joshua Polson.

By Kelly Ragan

When Brenda Vargas first moved to Greeley, people would often tell her not to cross the railroad tracks. They’d tell her that was the bad side of town. 

One day Vargas drove over there to see what everyone was talking about. She expected to see a great and scary divide. 

“But it was just low-income communities and people of color,” Vargas said. 

Vargas studies sociology and Mexican-American studies at the University of Northern Colorado. She grew up in Denver. 

In this era of local and nationwide protesting  instances of police brutality, Vargas said she and a group of other students and community members wanted to do more to promote unity and equality in Greeley.

A protestor is silhouetted by some of the art work on display at the protest Friday, July 10, 2020 at Monfort Park in Greeley. Photo by Joshua Polson.

“That’s how we came up with the Black and Brown Alliance,” Vargas said. 

On July 10, the newly formed Black and Brown Alliance hosted a protest-meets-vigil-meets-artist-showcase at Monfort Park as a call for justice for Elijah McClain. 

McClain was a 23-year-old Black man who died at the hands of Aurora police nearly a year ago. 

According to a report by the Colorado Sun, Gov. Jared Polis appointed Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser as special prosecutor to review his death. It’s an unusual move, according to the Sun. 

Polis has indicated there are several issues with the case that merit additional review, according to the Sun (you can read more about that here).

Protestors hold each other as they listen to speakers on Friday, July 10, 2020 at Monfort Park in Greeley. Photo by Joshua Polson.

On July 10, protestors marched and chanted along 47th Avenue. 

“No justice, no peace. Stop the racist police.”

“Whose lives matter? Black lives matter.” 

The turnout was smaller than previous protests – a fact noted by speaker and activist Joshua Greer. Maybe 100 people came out with signs. 

Yet other pieces are gaining momentum. 

“This can’t be a moment and this can’t be a movement,” Greer said. “This has to be a revolution.” 

Taking it beyond protests

The Black and Brown Alliance includes other activists such as Greer and Gavin Hamilton – two Black men who have organized Black Lives Matter protests and spoken out against racism at city council meetings. 

The goal of the group is to promote unity between Black and Latinx communities while advocating for each other. 

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, known more commonly as the NAACP, may also open an official branch in Weld County. 

The organization was first founded in 1909 in response to ongoing violence against Black people across the country, according to the NAACP website. The organization’s mission, according to the website, is to “secure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.”

April Tonsberg-Appelgren

As it stands, April Tonsberg-Appelgren, of Evans, is leading the charge. 

The NAACP Weld County organizing committee will conduct a membership campaign and plans to submit the application for an NAACP charter in October, according to a news release. Tonsberg-Appelgren needs 100 members to get a branch, she said.

Tonsberg-Appelgren, a Black woman, has lived in Weld for about three years. She’s a retail manager, mother, wife and activist.

Tonsberg-Appelgren moved to Colorado from Nashville when she got married. She thought the move could offer a better life for her family. She read that Colorado was a diverse and highly educated, so it sounded to her like a good place to live. 

But she turned to NAACP after an experience in Greeley. 

Her 13-year-old son was attacked by two others near the municipal court, she said. His attackers called him the N-word. He ended up in the hospital. 

Tonsberg-Appelgren reported the incident to police. But she said she doesn’t think police did enough to help. She wonders, she said, how things might have played out if her son looked different. 

“I don’t want anyone to feel what I felt,” Tonsberg-Appelgren said. “This is for my community – it’s for the Black community, who don’t feel like they have a voice right now.”

For more information

To learn more about the NAACP and to apply to join in Weld, contact April Tonsberg-Appelgren at apriltonsbergappelgren@gmail.com or call (615) 638-5529. NAACP Adult Membership costs $30/year and includes a subscription to The Crisis, a magazine first edited by NAACP Founder W.E.B. DuBois.