A crime prevention specialist from the Tampa, FL, Urban League, spoke on the need for African Americans to have positive role models, persons to talk to young people and teach them a sense of dignity and pride so they and their communities can combat the negative influences they are experiencing in society. A speaker from the Division of Injury Epidemiology and Control, Centers for Disease Control, talked about homicide from national and local points of view, and discussed the black family and the concept of networking. The Deputy Medical Director, American Psychiatric Association, discussed the relevance of a negative sense of self to black violence, as well as to self-destructiveness. The Administrator, Philadelphia Injury Prevention Program, Department of Public Health, discussed that group's efforts to determine why it takes so long for victims of violence to be served by the police, emergency medical services, and the hospital. The article includes an overview of the major discussion points of the conference.