Clinton took to Twitter on Friday to post quotes from a speech she had given to kick off an "African Americans for Hillary" event at Clark Atlanta University, where she called for reforms including a end to private prisons "Protecting public safety...should never be outsourced or left to unaccountable corporations." Clinton tweeted.

Racial justice advocates had criticized Clinton's campaign after it had been accused of accepting contributions from private prison lobbyists. Aurielle Marie, a black activist and founder of the racial justice group #ItsBiggerThanYou, said activists raised the issue at a private meeting with Clinton earlier this month. Clinton's campaign has agreed to stop accepting such contributions.

On Friday, stocks for Corrections Corporation of America (CXW) and Geo Group (GEO), two of the largest private prison companies in the United States took a tumble.

Clinton's announcement came one month after Bernie Sanders and other Democratic leaders in the House introduced a bill to ban private prisons all together.

"Rhetoric does not save my life. Rhetoric does not protect our children from being assaulted in the school system," Marie said. "What we need from Hillary Clinton is a dedication to the issues that Black Lives Matter has brought to her feet."

Marie said she hoped to see Clinton introduce legislation around issues including criminalizing racial profiling and mandating cultural competency training for police officers around the country.
Marie also said she supported the protesters who interrupted Clinton's speech on Friday. "They are trying to escalate and accelerate the conversation," Marie said of the protestors who began chanting "black lives matter" a few minutes into her speech.

Johnetta Elzie, an activist with the group Campaign Zero, said that many of the issues Clinton spoke about, including racial profiling and ending private prisons, had already been addressed by other candidates. On Friday, Elzie tweeted that Clinton's "baby steps towards addressing racial justice in a real way aren't working. She's lagging behind her competition, Sanders."