Black Lives Matter organizers a diverse group

It’s easy to think that the Black Lives Matter marches and other protests that have erupted over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis have sprung up fully formed, as spontaneous manifestations of community frustration, anger and outrage.

But for every protest, there are organizers or leaders who bring their own beliefs, convictions and hopes to the gatherings, even as they provide a forum for others to share theirs.

Here are a few of the people and their motivations behind Las Vegas’ Black Lives Matter marches.

Vance Sanders: ‘People care so much’

The Rev. Vance “Stretch” Sanders has been an activist in Southern Nevada’s African American community for more than five years. But he’d describe himself in stronger terms.

“I will describe what I do and who I am as a revolutionary,” he said. “I am very radical. I don’t take that (term) offensively.”

Sanders, who has organized a number of rallies and gatherings over the years, held his latest on June 5, a Black Lives Matter rally at Kianga Isoke Palacio Park.

Born in Chicago, Sanders moved to Las Vegas with his family at age 16. Through study and stories told by his mother and an uncle who was a member of the Black Panther Party, he came to realize how racism serves as the groundwork for economic inequality, poverty, discrimination and, ultimately, the killing of African American citizens by police.

“Everybody has different goals,” said Sanders, 25, who is advocating for a bill that prohibits police from using excessive force. He plans to lead another protest on June 26, at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building. Sanders said he was “blown away” by the number and diversity of rally attendees.

“I’m so proud of everyone who has gotten involved in the fight,” he said. “It’s almost like a true brother’s and sister’s keeper. I think everyone is just sick and tired of being sick and tired. I think the energy people have is just different this time.”

By “getting involved in one struggle, you realize others struggle just like you,” Sanders said.

“I don’t want people to get discouraged,” he said. “I’d hate to see this energy just die down. People need to realize it’s not going to be a fight that’s going to be handled overnight.”

Mekkah Fields: ‘This is the real thing’

Mekkah Fields had never been politically active, but when she saw the video of George Floyd, everything changed.

“I saw him dying,” said Fields, 21. “I was like, what the f——.”

All her life, she has known of African American men and women dying at the hands of police or because of racism.

But those “didn’t hurt me like this,” she said. “I can’t even explain the pain I felt.”

So on May 30, she joined her first march, in downtown Las Vegas. The following day, she joined a protest march on the Strip. After arriving, she was recruited to help organize the march.

“I showed up solely because I needed to do it for me,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s because I’m super-loud or passionate, but other people were like, ‘We want to listen to you. Stand on top of this pillar. Here’s a bullhorn.’ I never felt more complete in my entire life.”

Fields was born in Los Angeles and moved to Las Vegas a year and a half ago. She’s continuing her newfound activism and is planning a Black Lives Matter event of her own.

“I think there are things that need to be done,” she said. The police need to be “rebuilt as a system made to work for everybody. Now, police weren’t made to protect us, black people, I mean. So we need to create a quote-unquote police (force) that actually protects the people they need to serve.”

Fields wants to push for mental health evaluations for police officers, and she believes that “there has to be a better system of dealing with cops that do break the law.”

She considers it vital that African American officers speak up about misdeeds they witness.

“The police live by the same code as gangs live by. You have to protect your own and stand by your own, and if you witness these things and aren’t doing anything about it, you’re just as bad as the people who are doing it,” she said. “That’s why the whole thing needs to be torn down and rebuilt.”

Fields attended a few other marches after her first, experiencing both peaceful vibes and tear gas and pepper spray. But she says she’s in it for the long haul.

“After the protest stops, the fight doesn’t end. We can’t protest a week and be gone,” she said.

“The scary part — and the sad part — about it is (that) in two or three weeks, half of the people who were out there won’t care,” Fields said. “But this is chess, not checkers. We’re fighting for a real cause, not just a social media post. This is the real thing.”

Latasha Pippen: ‘Right direction’

Latasha Pippen helped forge a connection, even if only for a few hours, between marchers and police at her first Black Lives Matter march.

Pippen, 40, wanted to know more about the movement beyond the information she found online and reposted to her own Facebook page.

She attended a June 3 march outside Las Vegas City Hall and became one of its organizers. She met with police officers beforehand and helped coordinate an informal forum between marchers and police officers.

The march became memorable when police officers joined protesters.

“We just asked, ‘Will you guys march with us?’ ” she said. And they did.

Pippen, who moved to Las Vegas from Detroit nine years ago, worked to get out the vote in Detroit, but the Black Lives Matter march here was her first.

“We are tired,” said Pippen, though she’s heartened “to see people all over the world protesting. You can see every day how people are united with us, people of all ages.”

She sees herself as a bridge-builder. To increase her understanding of the issues that police contend with, she plans to attend Metro’s Citizens’ Police Academy.

Pippen sees progress in cultural changes being made now. Last week’s banning of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events is a small victory, but she views it as a sign that society is “going in the right direction.”

Henry Thorns: ‘War on black people’

Henry Thorns has been a local community activist for decades.

Almost 40 years ago, he founded the Hen-Hen Dogcatchers Foundation, which uses sports as an incentive to keep young people in school.

Over the years, Thorns has seen protests and community controversies come and go, but this one is different, he says.

Thorns, who graduated from Clark High School and played college football at UNLV and pro football in Canada, organized a June 7 Black Lives Matter rally at the Martin Luther King Jr. statue at Carey Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard. He said the event drew about 300 people.

Thorns, 59, has witnessed the ebb and flow of societal currents over the years.

But, he said, “this is something totally different. This ain’t going to stop until something gets done.”

For Thorns, Black Lives Matter grows out of the everyday racism that has plagued America for decades. That includes public funding inequities for African Americans and institutional racism in the courts, law enforcement, government and even college sports.

“So we’ve been protesting a long time,” Thorns said. “We’re tired of seeing people killed for no reason. I’m not a violent person, but I’d do anything in the world to protect my kids and family. And it seems like it’s a war on black people.”

Thorns is gratified by the number and diversity of protesters he saw at the rally.

“We always had mixed-race (crowds), but we never had so many,” he said.

While protesters likely represent an equally diverse range of opinions, the shared message, Thorns said, is that “police brutality must stop.”

Consider a young person 26 or under, he said. He added: “How many black lives have you seen get murdered by police and how many police have gone to jail?”

He expects the momentum gained over the past several weeks to continue.

“It ain’t going away,” he said. “This is different.”

Contact John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.