The die-out was organized to remind people of the injustices African Americans face in the community and in the courtroom.

The university's Department of African-American Studies was the main sponsor of the forum focused on the black Lives Matter Movement and Black student protest on campus, in Champaign-Urbana and beyond.

A former prosecutor in the Cook County State's Attorney's office says it took far too long to investigate the shooting death of Chicago teen Laquan McDonald at the hands of a white police officer. That prosecutor happens to be running for U.S. Senate.

Last week on the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus, black students came together to show support for the students at Mizzou, and to share their own experiences with racism; hours later, a Facebook group appeared that denounced the protesters.

“Black Lives Matter has become something that’s very easy to identify, and I’m going to say it again, it’s more hashtag than reality," said Cha-Jua, "and if these kids think that they can tweet their damn way to freedom, then they are sorely misguided.”