Silence Is Violence

What is SilenceIsViolence

SilenceIsViolence is an anti-violence campaign that was founded following the December 28 murder of Dinerral Shavers and the January 4 murder of Helen Hill. Dinerral and Helen were beloved friends, neighbors, and artists of the Bywater-Marigny district.

Following these tragedies, Ken Foster, Helen Gillet, and Baty Landis decided to march to City Hall to express publicly our grief and our dismay at the lack of city leadership on the issue of violent crime.

The January 11 March For Survival was attended by 5,000 concerned citizens, and SilenceIsViolence was founded. On that day, citizens from all parts of the city had a chance to speak directly to our leaders and each other about their fears and hopes.

Baty Landis presented Five Ideas For Change on behalf of SilenceIsViolence, opening an anti-violence dialogue with our leadership and establishing the foundation for the programs we currently sponsor.

The Organizers:

Baty Landis owns and operates Sound Cafe and Beth’s Books in the Lower Marigny and teaches music history at Tulane University. Baty oversees the various programs organized by SilenceIsViolence.

Ken Foster is a writer who lives in the Bywater District and teaches creative writing at Tulane University. Ken acts as a spokesman for SilenceIsViolence and maintains communication with the myriad of anti-violence groups with whom SilenceIsViolence collaborates.

Helen Gillet performs and teaches cello throughout New Orleans. She is currently focusing on independent educational outreach programs through music.

Nakita Shavers is a political science major at Florida A&M University. Nakita is currently taking a leave of absence to assist with research, logistics, and administration of SilenceIsViolence. She is participates in the Program for Peace and is the coordinator for the SilenceIsViolence Court-Watching program.