This weekend the NAACP Boulder Branch will celebrate its 1-year and 100-member milestones. NAACP Boulder Branch VP, Annett James says the NAACP mission is to ensure political, social, educational and economic equality and rights for all-persons – with an emphasis on all-persons.
“The NAACP is the oldest and boldest of all the civil rights organizations. “
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NAACP Boulder Branch Celebrates One Year Anniversary KGNU News
Treasurer, Cherry-Rose Anderson says that from its origins, the NAACP is a community that welcomes all people.
“As a white person it is vitally important to work on the issues of systemic racism that affect people of color. It’s a problem that cannot be solved unless white people are involved and working to dismantle those structures.“
Annett James says, Boulder is long overdue to have a branch of the NAACP. “It is easy to be in Boulder and not see or interact regularly with people of color.”
For the first year of the NAACP Boulder Branch, Education has been a big focus. Particularly, educational opportunity gaps in BVSD and St Vrain. As well, the Economic Opportunity and Sustainability Committee has been taking a closer look at creative ways to address the barriers to economic equality, a unique issue in a particularly affluent community, and finding different ways to connect with people who need help.
For the near future, the big topic for the NAACP, nationally and in Boulder County, is the civic engagement in the upcoming elections. Anderson emphasizes, “Without our vote we have no voice.” And so, the NAACP actively participates in protecting voting rights, getting out the vote, connecting with under-represented communities to ensure the path is open for them to speak to government, to be represented, and to run for offices. More specifically, the NAACP national goal, this year, is to raise turnout rates by 3%.
Membership to the NAACP Boulder Branch ($30/year for annual adult membership) can involve as much engagement as you choose. Membership not only supports NAACP efforts nationwide, it generates involvement in our community, making our own, and our neighbors’’ lives better. For those who wish to be more actively involved, James and Anderson encourage individuals to join one of the committees. As Anderson asserts, being a NAACP representative “means that you have a voice that people want to listen to.”
This weekend’s NAACP Boulder Events:
Boulder County NAACP First Annual Freedom Fund Gala: “From Juba to Jive”
Featuring Denver based jazz and soul vocalist Rajdulari
Friday May 4, 2018, 6:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Canyon Theater, at the Boulder Public Library
Educational Equity Conference & Training
CO-MT-WY NAACP State Conference Quarterly Training Meeting
Featuring Key Note by Dr. Joyce Brooks
Saturday May 5, 2018
First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St, Boulder, CO 80302
