The purpose of this chapter is to review the literature to explore reasons why African Americans are overrepresented among victims and perpetrators of interpersonal violence. In the first section, I will define historical trauma and discuss gender differences in prevalence rates of fatal and nonfatal violent criminal victimization and prevalence rates of physical, sexual, and psychological intimate partner violence. In the next section, I will describe the ecological model and discuss risk factors for interpersonal violence at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels. To conclude, I will offer suggestions for intervention and prevention strategies to address risk factors at every level of the ecological model.