​"i am now my child's voice
a voice that has been silenced forever"

​- Rotunda Jordan
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Gwendolyn Baxter, surrounded by members of The Sisterhood, tells the story of her son Larry D. Harper, Jr. at SOUNDS of UNSILENCE 2018

​THE SISTERHOOD
Unsilence is working to amplify the voices of The Sisterhood, a collective of Chicago mothers, all women of color, each of whom has lost a child to gun violence, including gang violence and police brutality.

A NEW ONLINE EXHIBITION
​Unsilence is currently working with members of The Sisterhood to create a new and compelling online exhibition that tells the stories of these mothers and their children. The online exhibition will be free and open access to all.​
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EDUCATOR GUIDES
The Exhibition will be accompanied by educator guides to support classrooms and communities have conversations about grief, family, and resilience, and the real life implications of gun violence, gang violence, racism, and policy brutality.
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​GOALS OF THIS PROGRAM
(1) To unsilence the personal and collective grief, trauma, activism, and healing of mothers of color. (2) To humanize their murdered children who are so often portrayed in a negative light by the media. (3) To help communities across Chicago talk about systemic violence. (4) To connect Chicagoland communities, because we’re in this crisis together and we can only solve it together.
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THE CHALLENGE
Between 2016 and 2018, 10,762 people were shot in Chicago. Gun violence in Chicago disproportionately affects black and brown communities, particularly young black men. The media too often portrays them in a negative light, stripping them of their humanity, and leaving their stories untold.

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Why Grieving Mothers
Need To Tell Their Stories
by Gwendolyn Baxter

READ  >

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​PROCESS:
​A NEW ONLINE EXHIBITION
Unsilence is currently working with members of The Sisterhood to create a new and compelling online exhibition that tells the stories of these mothers and their children.

Winter 2019: Unsilence records the testimonies of members of The Sisterhood​.

Spring 2019: Renowned Chicago artist Cecil McDonald, Jr. photographs members of The Sisterhood.

Fall 2019 Unsilence transcribes the interviews with members of The Sisterhood, to identify key themes.

Spring 2020: Unsilence turns these testimonies and photographs into a dynamic digital exhibition. Unsilence creates an accompanying educator guide for using the exhibition in classrooms and communities.

Summer 2020: Unsilence launches the free and open access online exhibition.

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​"Some people don't even see us as human"

​- a Chicago mother grieving her son

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​A PARTNERSHIP FOR CHANGE
The Sisterhood is a nonprofit organization of mothers whose children have been killed by senseless violence and serve as an action/support group for each other. The Sisterhood focuses on empowering mothers to grieve healthily through meetings, social gatherings, outreach, civil events, and annual retreats. The Sisterhood desires to be a voice for their children and all people that have been affected by senseless violence.

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​LONG-TERM IMPACT
As the inaugural program in our Unsilence Voices series, we envision this project serving as a model for future collaborations to engage the public in addressing critical injustices in our society. These collective dialogues are essential to challenging  public misconceptions and ingrained prejudices, creating empathetic solutions and dismantling the institutional, cultural,  and personal silencing that perpetuate these injustices. Through community support and collaboration, we will create lasting solutions for social change and community safety.

Members of The Sisterhood wear t-shirts with photographs ​of their children who were murdered

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TEAM
Gwendolyn Baxter, Danny M. Cohen, Bethany Hill, Kayla Lane Freeman, Cecil McDonald, Jr., Stacey Mann, Erin Matthews, Annie Rezac, Andrene Wright.

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