Hillary Clinton Meets ‘Black Lives Matter’ Activists, Discusses Critical Issues

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton met with activists of the "Black Lives Matter" group, and the attendees described the meeting as being very "candid."

Clinton shared an hour of her time discussing issues important to the black community. Foremost in the discussion were militarization of police, violence against members of the LGBT community who were black, and the often-heard "school-to-prison" route that most black youngsters end up taking.

"Hillary is a good listener. But she still has lots of room to grow when it comes to listening to black people actually talk about the issues that are affecting them, vs. how she perceives the issues to affect us," said Johnetta Elzie, an activist who works on police militarization and violence, according to Business Insider.

Other members of the delegation included DeRay Mckesson, Brittany Packnett and Samuel Sinyangwe.

Cherno Biko, a transgender activist, discussed the killings of transgender black women and said that the killers should be handled with love, instead of punishing them, and perpetuating the cycle of violence. Clinton replied, "You're a better person than me wanting to love folks who kill somebody. Listen, I will forgive them, but I'm not going to love them," reported The Huffington Post.

While discussing the militarization of police, Clinton, like many Americans, found it difficult to accept that the "police don't actually always make people feel safe," said Mckesson.

Clinton discussed the institutions of slavery and racism, which she felt continued to affect the lives of modern Americans and called them America's "original sin."

Describing Clinton's views on racism, Elzie found that Clinton "would listen and acknowledge that her experience was totally different than any of the black people at this table," HP reported.

"In the end, I think she heard us," said McKesson, the leader of the group, according to The New York Times.

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Hillary Clinton