Let Them Talk to foster safe spaces amid uptick in youth violence 

Let Them Talk is bringing back safe summer kickbacks in time for WNBA All-Star Weekend. 

Let Them Talk is a volunteer youth advocacy group that was founded by Heather Savage, Anthony Battle and Daniel Mills three years ago. The organization aims to provide comprehensive education and services to Black and brown families in the community and maintain safe spaces for youth to exist and have fun without the threat of gun violence. 

“It is not easy to turn away from your friends and everyone around you who are doing things that bring negative attention to our young people,” Battle said. “So, we want to celebrate. ‘Hey. You all did it. You all came tonight. You could have went downtown, you could have stayed home, you could have been on the block in your neighborhood, but you all made a choice to come and hang out and be safe tonight.’” 

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Savage, Battle and Mills saw a need in their community — a need for collaborations that could provide needed education and resources and bridge the gaps in youth service. 

“We had attended a conference, and the conference was wonderful … but it was missing vital information that was important for our Black youth in the communities that we serve,” Savage said. “We didn’t see ourselves in the data. We didn’t see ourselves in the programs. And so it was important for us to build something where our families could see themselves. They can see their kids.” 

Let Them Talk works directly with families and youth through various events and programming — such as The Melanin Table Talk and Safe Summer Kickbacks — while also providing training and supplemental programming to Black youth service organizations, community leaders and clergy to use to strengthen their own existing programs and initiatives. 

The Melanin Table Talk is a regular roundtable where experts sit down with the parents in the community to talk about things going on in the city — from new laws, upcoming legislation and any political jargon that they might not understand, Battle said. Let Them Talk also hosts a school-based roundtable club for middle and high schoolers to have similar conversations in a safe space. 

“We want to give this information to our students in a way that they understand, they’re knowledgeable and they have the important facts to be able to have conversations with their friends and have conversations with their families once they get home,” Battle said. “Those conversations are important to us because we want to curb some of this boredom, for lack of a better phrase, with our young people.” 

However, Let Them Talk’s approach to education is always evolving because their students are always giving them feedback — especially when they don’t like something or feel a program isn’t working, Mills added.  

“We believe that the definition of insanity shouldn’t be applied to what we do at Let Them Talk,” Mills said. “If it has not been working, then let’s figure out something that does work, but we’re not going to figure it out without the individuals that are actually trying to receive the help.” 

Aside from the three co-founders and the board of directors — made up of educators, administrators, youth workers and even a former Marion County Sheriff Deputy — Savage said Let Them Talk is entirely volunteer run.  

Let them Talk is finally in a place where collaborating with other community organizations is at the forefront of the work they are doing to help youth create “systems of their own for success,” Mills said.  

The “team behind the team” come from other community organizations — such as The Mind Trust, Indy Peace Keepers, Honest Living 4 Young Women and Inner Beauty — that serve families and youth “hands-on.” 

Let Them Talk debuted its Safe Summer Campaign in 2024 where they offered bi-weekly Safe Summer Kickbacks, mental health support and wellness resources, free transportation, meals and emergency support; and a city-wide end of summer sneakerball with a back-to-school giveaway. 

The Safe Summer Kickbacks served more than 200 youth last year, and more than 100 youth with the three kickbacks already hosted this year, Battle said.  

Safe Summer Kickback: Black Out Edition takes place during Indiana Black Expo and the 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend on purpose. With the ongoing threat of youth gun violence, Let Them Talk provides an opportunity for kids to be kids safely during the summer, but also explore new positive environments — like Martin University, where the next kickback takes place, Battle said. 

“Our youth violence is not just downtown. It is in every neighborhood in our state,” Battle said. “We don’t want to just keep stretching downtown. We want to get them out of their neighborhoods as well, to give them a couple of hours of free and safe fun they don’t have to worry about gun violence — the ops, as they say — coming up on them.” 

Safe Summer Kickback: Black Out Edition takes place from 6-10 p.m. on July 18 at Martin University, 2186 N. Sherman Drive.  

End-of-Summer Citywide Skate Party takes place from 6-9 p.m. on July 24 at Roller Cave, 8734 E. 21st St. 

For more information about Let Them Talk or upcoming events, visit letthemtalkindy.com. 

Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.