"Just knowing how to talk to people and knowing how to treat people, these are the most important skills in being a cop," said Michael Schlosser, Director of the Police Training Institute at the U of I.

Tometi visited Champaign-Urbana last week to discuss the importance of community engagement in fighting racial injustice.

“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.”

High profile racial violence has captivated the nation in recent years. From the death of Trayvon Martin to most recently a fatal shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston South Carolina, an unspeakable tragedy that is reminiscent of the 1960's.