Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton met privately with the families of African-American men killed in police shootings in Chicago on Monday, promising them to push forward with her plans to undertake reforms in the criminal justice system.

The presidential frontrunner spoke with several people including Lesley Mcspadden, the mother of Michael Brown, whose death sparked a civil unrest in Ferguson Missouri last year. She also met with Sabrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, who was killed by a police officer in Florida in 2012.

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Clinton's campaign staff said the meeting was held to address the growing animosity between the police and minority communities. Clinton listened to the families' stories and lamentations about how white police officers treat minorities in their communities, resulting in the deaths of young African-Americans.

Criminal justice reform has been one of the key programs Clinton has forwarded in her campaign as she seeks to woo votes from minorities including black communities - particularly in the South where they represent a huge voting bloc.

Clinton's campaign strategists have confidence that the criminal justice reform program will appeal to black voters as they hope to outperform their chief rival Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Among the priorities of the former secretary of state is stopping racial profiling by the police  and ending the sentencing disparity between crack and cocaine. Clinton is also pushing for an end to "mass incarceration."

Monday's meeting was reportedly held to emphasize the need to end an 'epidemic' gun violence in America, which has become the core of Clinton's campaign and has been used as a weapon against Sanders.

Among those who attended the meeting were Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy killed by the police in Ohio while holding a toy gun last year. Also present was Maria Hamilton, the mother of mentally ill man Dontre Hamilton, who was gunned down by police in Milwaukee in 2014.

Last week, Clinton and prominent civil rights activists and black leaders kicked off the campaign trail in Atlanta dubbed "African-Americans for Hillary."

Speaking later that day at Clark Atlanta University, a historically black college, Clinton emphasized her call for criminal justice reform, linking it with the issue on racism.

"We also need to look beyond the specific criminal justice reforms to the deep-seated social and economic inequities that divide our country," she said. 

TagsHillary Clinton, African-Americans, criminal justice reforms, michael brown, atlanta, Chicago