The leading cause of death for African-American men age 10-24 is homicide. In fact, black males experience homicides at more than four times the rate of all other men in the United States.

Since 1980, more than 650,000 people have been murdered in the United States. That’s more lost to homicide than Americans killed during all the wars of the last 100 years combined. In New Orleans, like in other cities throughout our country, African-American men continue to suffer disproportionately: About 6,000 black males have been killed in New Orleans since 1980 — more than 90 percent of the city’s murder victims over that period.

Statistics like those are unacceptable. African-American men are assets to our families, communities and cities. That’s why we must address an urgent issue for the prosperity of cities and our nation: stemming the tide of violence against and among African-American men. And for our cities to prosper, we have to do all we can to create opportunities for our boys and young men to live their lives to the fullest potential.

Five years ago, a group of mayors partnered with philanthropic and community leaders to form a network of local communities focused on eliminating violence in American cities related to African-American men. Today, nearly 80 mayors across the country are part of Cities United, working together as a national movement to uplift black men while confronting the urgent crisis they face.