Sanders, at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said, “We must reform our criminal justice system. Black lives do matter. And we must value black lives.”
And Clinton, speaking in South Carolina, said, “I think it is essential that we all stand up and say loudly and clearly, ‘Yes, black lives matter.’ “
All of the Democratic campaigns have held meetings with activists from the movement.
“Rhetoric is important and language matters,” said Brittany Packnett, a Ferguson protester and a member of the president’s task force on policing. “But at the end of the day you’re going to show me that my life matters by what you plan to do and by following through on that plan.”
Packnett has a lot of questions for the candidates and they go well beyond the words they choose.
“I want to know what your goal is to decrease the prison population,” she said. “I want to know what your goal is to increase graduation rates in marginalized communities. I want to know how you are going to decrease police killings. And I want to know what your goal is to increase employment in marginalized communities. How and when you will be making that happen.”
All three major Democratic candidates and some on the GOP side are speaking at the National Urban League conference in Florida today. O’Malley is unveiling what his campaign describes as a comprehensive criminal justice platform. The activists say they can’t wait to scrutinize what all of the candidates are proposing.
Article Appeared @http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/07/31/427851451/democratic-candidates-stumble-over-black-lives-matter-movement