ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rochester-area lawmakers took part in an anti-racist and racial justice conference Saturday.

The four-hour course was organized by Assemblyman-elect Demond Meeks and Assemblyman Harry Bronson for local Democratic candidates.

It comes in the wake of the news of the death of Daniel Prude, but was already in the works before that.

Organizers reached out to Reverend Myra Brown to host the program at Spiritus Christi Church downtown.

"We cannot wait for another person of color to be killed in our streets or a person of color's destiny to be determined by racial politics. We need people who are willing to stop and say 'I want to learn more, I want to learn how the history of racism in this country is informing my work,"' said Brown.

Last weekend, Brown organized a group of elder community leaders to serve as a buffer between police and protesters to help deescalate the situation.