A river of people spilled onto the sidewalks in Longmont on Saturday, April 5, to have their voices heard. An orchestra of “Hands off!” chants, beating drums and supportive car horns stretched for five blocks, lining both sides of Main Street from 4th to 9th Avenue.
“I’ve done a lot of organizing, but I’ve never seen something like this in Longmont,” local resident Marissa Hallo said from the throng of protesters.
The crowd, which by some unofficial estimates reached anywhere between 4,000 and 5,000 people, joined in with 1,400 other events across the country in a mass organization called “Hands Off!” to show opposition to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
While the staggering turnout brought together residents from across Boulder County and beyond, for a few dozen Longmonters, this Saturday was no different than any other.
A small group of local political dissenters began gathering — rain, snow or shine — every weekend on the corner of 6th and Main in Longmont for more than two decades. What started as a targeted local mobilization against the Iraq War, the Longmont Leads with Love Vigil has evolved into a dependable support space for community members, and a means to put urgent political issues front of mind for the people of Longmont.
While the term ‘vigil’ may invoke images of a somber, candlelit gathering, the group is not silent, says organizer Kathy Partridge. “Vigil suggests a long-term kind of caring presence,” she says, similar to how communities come together when someone has died.
“The core of the Longmont Leads with Love Vigil is, it continues.”
From Bush to Trump
The vigil dates back to the Bush administration, when Longmonters first began organizing in the aftermath of 9/11.
“We had an ad-hoc meeting saying that we had to do something,” says Jim Kenworthy, who helped start the vigil group along with two other Longmont residents, “because Bush is going to take advantage of this.”
The group put out a call to action, and small crowds started to appear on Main Street every Saturday to protest what soon became the Iraq War. In the early days, Kenworthy says, there was a lot more opposition to their grassroots movement.
“We had as many right wingers as leftists,” says Kenworthy, a Longmont resident since 1983. The counter protesters would often threaten violence — though it never came to that point, he adds.
Despite the threats, the group persisted. “Some of us felt we had to be out there no matter what,” Kenworthy says.
Community involvement began to dwindle when the Obama era promised change, according to Kenworthy and Partridge. For a few years, the group was less active. Then involvement exploded in 2016.
Says Partridge, “It picked up again as soon as Trump was elected for the first round, and it has been non-stop ever since.”
In retrospect, Partridge says, keeping the vigil going would have reminded people “the President is not … the only power in the world, and that we should have continued to be expressing the need for social change.”
No single message
After the vigil’s reignition, one of the first steps was to give it a name.
“We wanted to counter the hate we were feeling from Trump supporters with a nonviolent message and offer a positive vision,” Partridge says.
The new-look vigil takes a more organic approach — the early iteration had a conventional structure with regular meetings and titles — relying more on community networks and social groups to spread the word. Before the pandemic, the organizers would host post-vigil potlucks, which they hope to revive soon with community picnics and coffee-house meetups.
The group as it exists today doesn’t have a specific platform. It simply creates a space where people can come to exchange ideas, share information and support each other.
“People bring their own issues. Some people have the same sign every week,” Partridge says. “If you have a single message, [what] you get from the Longmont Leads with Love Vigil is solidarity.”
Reproductive rights, Black Lives Matter, the Free Palestine movement, immigration issues, LGBTQ+ rights — cardboard painted with pithy phrases supports each of these causes every Saturday afternoon. While there’s no one agenda, Partridge says the point is to present “a view of a world where all can thrive and there’s peace.”
“We want the feel to be that the issues are connected,” Partridge says.
While there’s less conflict than in years past, there is still a faction of conservative opposition in Longmont. Until congressional redistricting in 2021 placed Longmont into Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, represented by Dem. Joe Neguse, the city was in the 4th Congressional District, which elected Rep. Lauren Boebert in November last year.
Partridge sees this diversity in viewpoints as an advantage.
“Even in Longmont, [a] regular, little old American city, people are showing up,” she says. “We’re not just taking this. We’re not letting this be normalized.”
Change won’t come directly from going to the curb, Partridge says — it’s about what you do in between. Outside of the vigil, she works with Together Colorado, a faith-driven organization that advocates for progressive policy changes at the state and local level.
While the weekly vigil may not be the immediate harbinger of radical social change, it’s the visibility that drives Partridge, Kenworthy and other participants to the street every Saturday.
“It really feels like it makes a difference here,” Partridge says. “You’re standing on Main Street and the cars are going by and people are walking by because you’re right by downtown, and it’s very visible.
“So if some kid in the backseat of their … Trump-voter parent’s car driving down the street, sees a sign that says, ‘We support trans kids,’ maybe that kid feels seen.”
How to get involved
The Longmont Leads with Love Vigil meets weekly on Saturdays from 1-2 p.m. You can sign up for their newsletter by emailing [email protected]. On Saturday, April 19 at 1 p.m., there is a call to action organized by 50501, a grassroots activist organization, called the “No Kings, We Won’t Go Back Rally” to honor 250 years since the American Revolution. Details here: bit.ly/LongmontVigilBW
There are political activism groups working to protect democracy across Boulder County. If you’re interested in organizing for specific issues, here are a few groups you can get involved with.
Longmont Area Democrats
Grassroots activist organization that mobilizes protesters and shares resources to take action on local, state and federal legislation. Meets the first Wednesday of every month via zoom. longmontdems.org
El Comité
Local advocacy organization for Longmont’s Latino population that offers low-cost to no-cost legal services, path to citizenship aid, educational resources and more to support the Hispanic community. elcomitedelongmont.org
Indivisible Front Range Resistance
Citizen-led organization focused on influencing local, state and federal policymaking and organizing peaceful rallies. indivisiblefrr.org
BoCo Climate Justice Hive
A county-wide collaborative that connects climate justice organizations to inform and coordinate action in the community. Their events calendar compiles workshops, community initiatives and calls to action from groups around Boulder County into one place. boulder.earth