Mayor Pens Essay for Time

Time magazine has published a cover essay from Mayor Nutter as part of a package addressing the aftershocks of the Trayvon Martin case.

In the essay, Nutter wrote that "Trayvon's story is only the latest in our epidemic of violence, compounded by race, that must be addressed in America."

Nutter wrote about how African-American males are disproportionately victims and perpetrators of violence – in Philadelphia, about 75 percent of homicide victims are black males, as are 80 percent of homicide defendants.

Nutter said this "epidemic is rarely part of any national conversation."

He also said the country needed to refocus its priorities from terrorism and wars overseas, to violence in our streets and nation-building at home.

Nutter went on to promote a program he's leading with New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu called Cities United, devoted to fighting violence among black men and boys.

Asked how the mayor came to write the essay, spokesman Mark McDonald noted that Nutter has addressed these issues nationally during his recently-ended tenure as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

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