To learn more about black homicide risk in the urban context, research was conducted using a sample of large black communities in a regional cross-section of cities between 1960 and 1985. The primary data sources were Federal Bureau of Investigation reports and State and local health department records. Supplemental data were obtained from local police departments, court clerk offices, State correction departments, the Social Security Administration, and ethnic newspapers. Communities selected for research were Atlanta, Houston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Detroit, and Los Angeles. The study specifically looked at black homicide and the urban environment, culture and homicide risk, stress and homicide risk, black males as the primary target of risk, black females and lethal violence, and individual attributes and risk of victimization. The study also examined the relation among weapons, homicide, and criminal deterrence. What occurred over the 25-year study period involved a lowering of the age at which risk is heightened, a continuing erosion of expressive dominance, and an intensification of black male involvement as both victim and offender. These changes generally occurred in an environment where the transition from an industrial to a postindustrial economy has been most pervasive. Ethnic differences are apparently manifested in the choice of activity that groups participating in the illicit economy perceive as their preferred domain. Robbery and drugs represent the preferred activity of blacks, although the importance of drug trafficking in black communities is growing. 409 references, 34 tables, 14 figures.