Gathering of community leaders, public health experts, elected officials, law enforcement personnel and civil rights organizations will explore current data and develop concrete action plans to decrease lethal violence.
ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 14, 2026 – Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Inc. and The King Center will bring together community leaders, public health experts, elected officials, law enforcement personnel and civil rights organizations to discuss violence prevention efforts on Thursday, April 16 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the MSM campus, located at 720 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, Georgia, 30310. The exclusive invitation-only roundtable discussion will serve as a pre-symposium before a larger community event scheduled to take place later in the year.
“Gun violence continues to be a critical public health concern, especially for young people and communities of color,” said Sandra Harris-Hooker, PhD, Interim Dean, Academic Affairs, Morehouse School of Medicine. “Advancing health equity means addressing the conditions that impact community safety and well-being, and we are proud to work with partners like the 100 Black Men of Atlanta and The King Center to create solutions that support healthier, safer communities.”
The pre-symposium’s objectives are to review data tools that provide detailed statistics on current trends in lethal violence; identify key points of concern; explore innovative strategies for preventing lethal violence, including increased mental health awareness and suicide prevention; and create collaborative initiatives and action plans with measurable results in reducing deaths.
“Gun violence is a critical public health issue—one I’ve experienced firsthand—and this work is about equipping communities with the resources, data, and awareness they need to make informed decisions and build safer, stronger lives,” said Aaron Swain, Chairman of the Board, 100 Black Men of Atlanta.
The urgent issue of violence prevention, particularly youth violence, is one that both MSM and 100 Black Men of Atlanta have worked to address for decades. This has included direct outreach to and collaboration with students from Atlanta-area schools at the K-12 and college and university levels.
“Violence is not only a public safety issue. It is also a moral issue, a public health issue, and a human dignity issue,” said Dr. Bernice A. King, Chief Executive Officer of The King Center. “We must be intentional about bringing together data, leadership, and community wisdom to help prevent harm and create conditions where people, especially young people, can thrive. The King Center is proud to stand with Morehouse School of Medicine and 100 Black Men of Atlanta in this necessary effort.”
In conjunction with the meeting, the Health Equity Tracker, created by the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine, is used to explore data topics surrounding gun-involved deaths, including homicides, suicides, youth-involved deaths and intersectional outcomes including homicides of Black men. The tracker, created in partnership with Google.org, is a free-to-use online platform promoting health justice and data equity. It reveals health outcome disparities across U.S. communities down to the county and territory level through interactive visualizations, empowering users to explore health inequities and advocate for improved outcomes in their communities. Topics can be stratified multiple ways including race, sex at birth, age and metro/non-metro population density. The data is available nationally and at the state level and shows how the disparate rates have improved or worsened over the last two decades.
For more information about Morehouse School of Medicine, please visit MSM.edu.
