Using Art to Bring Awareness to Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence

Using Art to Bring Awareness to Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence

Three roses in front of a bigger flower that is difficult to see because of the black back ground.
The black background remains, but the flowers are in full bloom. The previously hard to see bigger flower is now a brilliant blue. The word, HOPE” is written above the blue flower.

*Please Note: IDJ does not align with any one religion, faith, or belief system. Instead, we offer a platform where people with disabilities can express their diverse experiences. Content contains Gina’s story about what happened to her when she was trafficked. Please take care when you read about what happened to Gina.

About the Artist: Gina Hope

I’m a survivor of human trafficking. During that time my spinal cord was injured (leading to constant severe pain & 17 surgeries involving my cervical & thoracic spinal cord causing a whole host of obstacles) and domestic violence (leading to rods & screws in my lower back). But despite how difficult each day & sometimes each minute is God has & continues helping me see good that can come of my circumstances & He’s never allowed me to give up. Around 7yrs ago, a friend met me every week for a year encouraging me to follow my dreams – he convinced me that I was not only capable but that I could accomplish amazing feats others could not because of the insights my experiences have given me. So, I set out to begin the sea of paperwork to start a 501c3 which is Living Legacy Of Hope. I’ve wanted to be an artist my entire life; but I’ve never been able to get on canvas anything close to what I envision.

However, I sought out to learn to paint as I had the idea of painting a Hope Card Collection. God helps me overcome obstacles such as difficulty holding onto the paintbrush because much of my hand is numb. This is the first painting I’ve been able to complete that actually looks like what I envisioned.

This particular painting came out of a very dark time as I had just been viciously attacked (enter rods & screws). The front of this Hope card is the Silhouette of Hope with the Silhouette of the opening Rose while the back is in full color with the Rose & HOPE brightly shining. 

I’ve given this as a Sympathy or Inspiration card to remind the hurting there is always Hope = one of the most important things I say when speaking is that we can overcome no matter what we endure on this earth – although there might be dark times we are never without HOPE. 

https://livinglegacyhope.wixsite.com/hope

Gina Hope: A woman with long blond hair, smiling big.

Heaven and Shadow Man

Art by Ashley McDaniel from Florida. Ashley is a person with schizophrenia and art keeps Ashley safe.

God's House
This is a drawing of a castle in the sky where God lives. There is a pathway with grass on each side leading from the front door off into the distance. There are three suns shining in the sky, one fluffy blue cloud and three blue dots.
Shadow Man is invisible
This is a drawing of Shadow Man in black, gray and red. There is a gray and red spiral in the middle of the page under the writing and under the spiral is a red fire with black outline and Ashley’s name. The text written in black ink reads “Shadow Man is talking to me but I don’t see him though so I ignor him.”

Dismonsterize Disability

A one panel cartoon in black ink with a plain white background featuring a cerebral palsy man holding a picket sign that reads “DIS – MONSTERIZE DISABILITY ” The man is looking straight forward standing on the sidewalk. At the right of the panel is written “DANIEL AARON HARRIS” in the far right bottom corner is written “ (C) 2021 Daniel Aaron Harris

Dis – Monsterize Disability 

Monsterize is defined as

To make something or another into a monster or the appearance of

Or 

To give another very bad reputation, demonize, vilify.

As a cerebral palsy man I have experienced monsterization along with a lot of people with disabilities. As an artist and children book author my mission is to change the narrative of people with disabilities are viewed and betrayed in media outlets. I chose “Dis instead of De” for a impactful a word play. Bobby Blue is a cerebral palsy character created by me to help people big and small see the value within the disability community.

Photo of Daniel Aaron: a white man siting in a chair in front of bookselves. He has brown hair with a beard. He has a serious expression. He is wearing a yellow t-shirt that says “Fallen Walls”. He has a tattoo of a lion on his left arm.

Daniel Aaron Harris as an artist, actor and author aims to change the narrative of disability. He lives in Memphis TN, where he runs a ministry called Fallen Walls. Daniel has written 7 children’s books and is currently working on his doctorate of ministry at Western Theological Seminary.

Website- www.fallenwalls901.org
Facebook- Daniel Aaron Harris
Instagram and Twitter- danielfw901
YouTube – Daniel Aaron Harris

This is Depression

By Paige Guffey

Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered where you went? Because all you see is sadness, anger, emptiness or loneliness. A shell of a person who used to genuinely smile.

Have you ever been in the middle of a crowd or surrounded by family, yet felt so alone? A deep, soul-wrenching loneliness.

Have you ever woken up and wished you hadn’t? And, you wished you hadn’t with a passion so deep that it shakes you to the core; it terrifies you.

Have you ever felt so empty that you don’t even know if you’re alive? Like you’re a black hole that is eating every emotion, but you can’t feel anything.

Have you ever laid in bed wondering if your family, your children, would be happier without you? Because you feel like you are this giant burden that is dragging everyone around you down and nothing you do is right anyways.

Have you ever asked yourself why? Why me? Why is this happening? Why do I feel this way? What can’t I just snap out of it?

This is depression at its finest. It’s dark and light. It’s happy and sad. It’s crying one moment and being angry, so angry, the next. It’s putting on a smile to mask the pain. It’s playing with your children as if you hadn’t just been in the bathroom crying. It’s a Black Hole that sucks the life out of you until you don’t even know who you are anymore. It’s like drowning, you’re sinking into an ocean of pain and you can’t breathe and you can’t get to the surface.

And, you can’t explain it. Because you’re scared. You’re terrified that no one will understand. That they’ll judge you. They’ll think you’re crazy. But you’re so scared all of the time of what will come next. What if you don’t get better? What if it never ends?

This is Depression.