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What You Need to Know - In the wake of Michael Brown's death and the countless lives lost in urban cities such as Chicago, it’s clear that gun violence is a serious issue in our country and in the Black community. Read more about the stats, why this type of violence exists and what can be done about it. —Kellee Terrell (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Gun Violence Overall - Despite popular belief, overall gun-related deaths in the U.S. have gone down, reaching an all-time low in the past 30 years, says the CDC. Gun killings went down 39 percent between the years 1993 and 2011, says the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Yet, African-Americans, especially youth, are still more likely to die from guns at disproportionate rates. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

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African-Americans and Gun Deaths - A recent CDC report found that gun deaths are the number-one form of homicide in the U.S. and that African-Americans are eight times more likely to die from gunshot wounds compared to whites. A whopping 62 percent of African-Americans are worried about gun violence, according to a 2013 Kaiser Family Foundation survey.  (Photo: AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Photo By Photo: AP Photo/Julio Cortez

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Black Youth Are Vulnerable - A 2012 report found that African-American youth ages 15–19 are eight times more likely to be victims of gun violence than white youth. Plus, gun violence is the number-one cause of death in that age group. Even more alarming, since 1979, guns killed 44,038 Black youth — that’s nearly 13 times more than the number of recorded lynchings of Blacks of all ages from 1882 to 1968, says the Children’s Defense Fund.  (Photo: SW Productions/Getty Images)

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42 Percent of Us Know a Victim of Gun Violence - While 1 in 5 (20 percent) Americans overall know a victim of gun violence, that percentage is higher among African-Americans. Forty-two percent of us know a victim, says a Kaiser Family Foundation survey. That’s more than double the national average.  (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Chicago Statistics - Since 2007 in Chicago, more than 270 children and young people have been killed — most of them African-American — making it one of the deadliest cities to live in. In 2012, Chicago led the nation in homicides, beating New York City (despite it having three times as many residents) and Los Angeles, the Chicago Reporter wrote. Also, between the years 2008 to 2012, nearly 50 percent of Chicago’s 2,389 homicide victims were killed before their 25th birthdays. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Why Us? - Persistent gun violence in the Black community is a consequence of many factors: Easy access to guns and assault rifles along with high rates of gang activity. But one of the biggest influences is poverty, an issue that Blacks disproportionately struggle with. Areas with the highest poverty rates also have the highest gun death rates, says the CDC.(Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Photo By Mario Tama/Getty Images

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What Can Be Done? - While one cannot overturn poverty and erase gangs overnight, advocates for gun control believe that by making it harder for people to get guns, violence will go down. There are also organizations throughout the country that specialize in mediating conflict between gang members.The Interrupters highlighted one of those organizations, Chicago-based CeaseFire. (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)