Will black lives ‘matter’ at the first Dem debate?

The movement, which can be traced back to the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012, has been working to confront candidates, participate in protests and interrupt rallies leading up to Election Day. These efforts are being made in the hopes that Republicans and Democrats alike are compelled to take up issues like police violence not just in public forums, but when the parties gather to write their presidential platforms.

But activists are especially keen to see just how much Democratic candidates talk about the state of policing in the United States when they take their places Tuesday night on the debate stage in Las Vegas. Though it may depend on the questions candidates get, activists are putting the onus on candidates to speak up on their own.

“Democrats consider black voters, in particular black women, an important key to a winning coalition. Historically, our issues are brought up much later in the campaign cycle as candidates pivot their campaign focus to primary states with larger black populations. It will be interesting to see if they use tonight’s prime time opportunity to speak directly to black women,” Kimberly Peeler-Allen, co-founder of Higher Heights, told the Washington Examiner in a statement.

Higher Heights is a nonprofit dedicated to promoting black women into leadership roles.

“Candidates will need to provide much more than a mere mention that black lives matter, and layout concrete policy solutions on police brutality and criminal justice reform if they expect to energize and activate this crucial voting bloc to support their candidacies,” Peeler-Allen added.

BLM activists have already met with the two leading Democrats, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Those activists are hoping that participation from the three other Democrats will increase the chances that they can talk about police shootings and other violence against blacks that have been thrust into the spotlight over the last few years.

Sanders seems to have been the most open when it comes to talking to the group. He was first confronted by Black Lives Matter activists in July at the Netroots Nation conference in Phoenix. He then allowed a group of Black Lives Matter protestors confronting him at an August speech in Seattle to take the stage and speak out freely, and met with BLM leaders in September.

Black Lives Matter has released a platform called “Campaign Zero” to push its policy ideas, which include limiting police interventions, improving community interactions, increasing training, body cameras to film the police and demilitarization of police forces. The Campaign Zero website also includes a section that tracks the ideas proposed by the 2016 candidates to curb police violence.

Sanders has already released a statement saying he looks forward to working with Campaign Zero and other groups “to address deeply entrenched racial and economic problems in our country.” He has a section called “Racial Justice” on his issues page on his campaign site, a clear push to make racial and social justice a main component in his presidential platform. On Tuesday, Sanders’ campaign manager Jeff Weaver said on CNN that Sanders will use the debate to speak directly to black constituents.

Clinton has also made an effort to reach out to the group more recently. In August, BLM organizers Daunasia Yancey and Julius Jones confronted Clinton after a campaign event in Keene, N.H. On Friday, prominent activist DeRay Mckesson and other activists met with Clinton in Washington, D.C.

After the meeting, Clinton tweeted: “Racism is America’s original sin. To those I met with today, thank you for sharing your ideas.” She also did a podcast with Buzzfeed‘s show “Another Round,” in which she said about the Black Lives Matter movement: “We need their voices, we need their activism.”

Mckesson has also met with Democratic candidate and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and asked for meetings with Republican candidates Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

Dubbed “the civil rights issue of our time” by Fox News host Megyn Kelly, the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement is not lost on the Democratic candidates. But the candidates are getting different responses from black voters so far.

A Public Policy Polling survey found in early September that 65 percent of black Democratic primary voters support Clinton, while only 14 percent back Sanders. Seventeen percent are unsure.

A Census Bureau report released in May 2013 found that the turnout rate of black voters in 2012 surpassed the rate for white voters. Given that change and the heightened calls for change in social justice, and Democratic and Republican candidates alike have made efforts to address the movement.

BLM so far hasn’t endorsed a candidate, and instead says it’s doing more work to ensure candidates are talking about its issues.

“More tools will be released in the coming weeks to help people hold elected officials accountable to dismantling other harmful systems and building an America where all people can live, learn and reach their full potential,” Campaign Zero has promised.