Homicide is the leading cause of death among young black men in America

And many more will be claimed by heart disease, respiratory infections, and complications related to HIV, all of which black men are both more likely to acquire and to be killed by than either black women or whites in the USA. Of the 1.1 million people living with HIV in the United States, more than 506,000 are black. Though the black community makes up 12% of the national population, it suffers 44% of new infections, 49% of AIDS diagnoses, and nearly half of HIV-related deaths. “One in three black gay men will contract HIV,” says Alex Garner of the National Minority AIDS Council. “Compare that to the one in six white gay men who will become infected,” Garner continues.