Silence Is Violence

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What is SilenceIsViolence

SilenceIsViolence is an anti-violence campaign that was founded following the murders of musician Dinerral Shavers (d. December 28, 2006) and filmmaker Helen Hill (d. January 4, 2007) in New Orleans. 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 New Orleans 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, 2007 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 in our communities and hopes for a safer and more equitable city.

The mission of the Silence is Violence is to call upon both citizens and public officials to achieve a safe New Orleans across all communties. We engage youth in positive expressions and actions to counter the culture of violence. We demand respect for every life, and justice for every citizen in our city.

The Organizers:

Baty Landis owns and operates Sound Cafe and Beth’s Books in the Lower Marigny and is the Executive Director of Young Aspirations/Young Artists (YA/YA). Baty oversees the various programs organized by SilenceIsViolence.

Ken Foster is a writer who lives in the Bywater District and teaches creative writing at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Ken is a spokesman for SilenceIsViolence and maintains communication with the myriad of anti-violence groups with whom SilenceIsViolence collaborates.

Nakita Shavers is a political science major at Florida A&M University. In addition to participating with SilenceIsViolence, she runs the Dinerral Shavers Educational Fund, founded in memory of her brother.