CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland City Councilman Zack Reed is calling for men, particularly fathers, to gather on the steps of City Hall and take a pledge against violence in their homes and communities.

The rally, which is scheduled for noon the day before Father's Day, will be one of dozens planned at city halls across the country by the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, Reed said.

The organization, on Reed’s urging, drafted a resolution adopted last year by the National League of Cities identifying homicide as the leading cause of death for black men between the ages of 15 and 24 and calling on the national Centers for Disease Control to treat the issue as a public health epidemic.

Reed said in an interview this week that on the heels of President Barack Obama's launch of My Brother's Keeper – an initiative to identify and support programs that steer young black men and boys toward productive lives -- the timing has never been better to unite against violence in the black community.

“We want fathers to step up,” Reed said. “We want men to step up. We know there are a number of ways to reduce the amount of violence in our community. And we know one very strong way of doing it is for fathers to get more involved in their children’s lives.”