This paper focuses on family-centered early childhood education (ECE) as a promising intervention to reduce youth firearm-related homicide. Inequities begin early in life. Family-centered ECE programs have shown promise at mitigating these inequities, influencing later educational attainment, and preventing youth violence, particularly for Black youth (Shonkoff and Fisher, 2013). This paper presents a conceptual model examining the pathways by which family-centered ECE programs may lower firearm homicides among Black male youth in the United States. Literature supporting each pathway in the proposed model is reviewed. Subsequent sections are divided as follows: (1) Developmental milestones supporting early childhood investment as a protective factor against violence involvement; (2) Proximal outcomes of family-centered ECE, including a child's cognitive skills, self-regulation and executive functioning, and the parent-child relationship; (3) Hypothesized intermediate outcomes, including school readiness and success; (4) Hypothesized distal outcomes, including juvenile delinquency involvement (committing a crime before age eighteen) and social connection to peers involved in violence; and (5) Influence of community contextual factors on these pathways. Next, for corresponding sections of the conceptual model, an example of the role systemic racism has played in persistent Black-White inequities is discussed; policies to mitigate the effects are also proposed. Finally, a research agenda is put forth. (author abstract)