Personal Stories – Page 14 – Disability Justice and Violence Prevention Resource Hub

Microaggression of a male DMST survivor

The name of my piece is called: Microaggression of a male DMST survivor

Artist: Eric Harris, B.S.W., HTFC (Human Trafficking Field Consultant)

“The piece is an optical illusion to represent that we can’t always see what a person is going through until we get closer to understanding someone pain, resiliency, and we are not defined by our past. The top layer represents my trafficker, my mother, and teachers and the words probation said to me growing up after my exploitation. The middle layer illustrates my accomplishments since leaving the life. The bottom represents my goals for the future.” Eric Harris, B.S.W., HTFC (Human Trafficking Field Consultant)

“The piece is an optical illusion to represent that we can’t always see what a person is going through until we get closer to understanding someone pain, resiliency, and we are not defined by our past. The top layer represents my trafficker, my mother, and teachers and the words probation said to me growing up after my exploitation. The middle layer illustrates my accomplishments since leaving the life. The bottom represents my goals for the future.” by Eric Harris, B.S.W., HTFC (Human Trafficking Field Consultant)

Description of the art:

Hey friends this is a description of the painting. The piece is called micro aggression of a DMST male survivor. The reason why I made the piece the way I made it is underneath [the paint] there is writing. On the first top half is everything that my traffickers, my mother, teachers, probation and everything that I was involved with after my trafficking situation—it is all the words they tell me—what I couldn’t do, or a path that I was headed on. Some of the words are triggering so I will not give a verbatim of the words that are written.

The middle part is all the accomplishments I have made after exiting the life. Becoming a social worker, father, grandfather, consultant, all the accomplishments I have always wanted to have and that I do have in life. The bottom part is the future. Displaying my hopes for the future. Hopefully becoming a great grandparent, a licensed clinical social worker and all the other things I wish for in my future.

The reason why it’s made with writing underneath is because from a far it looks like a piece of modern art. But also it represents how we see people from a far and the closer you get to the painting you can see the verbiage that I’ve laid down. Also representing the fact that we need to look at people closer before we judge.

Not only that but it shows from afar that we really don’t know what’s going on with a person but when we get up close, we can definitely see someone’s issues. We don’t always know where a person is coming from and that’s why I made the piece like that. Thank you.

Close up of the artwork. Description - The piece is an optical illusion to represent that we can't always see what a person is going through until we get closer to understanding someone pain, resiliency, and we are not defined by our past. The top layer represents my trafficker, my mother, and teachers and the words probation said to me growing up after my exploitation. The middle layer illustrates my accomplishments since leaving the life. The bottom represents my goals for the future."

The entire piece. The piece is an optical illusion to represent that we can't always see what a person is going through until we get closer to understanding someone pain, resiliency, and we are not defined by our past. The top layer represents my trafficker, my mother, and teachers and the words probation said to me growing up after my exploitation. The middle layer illustrates my accomplishments since leaving the life. The bottom represents my goals for the future."

Eric Harris, B.S.W., HTFC (Human Trafficking Field Consultant)

Biography: Eric Harris is a consultant and field expert with many years of service in human trafficking education and advocacy. Eric earned a bachelor’s in social work and is an alum from Anderson University Indiana and is a member of National Association of Social Workers (N.A.S.W.) Mr. Harris served as a Human Trafficking field consultant for the state of Indiana and was the co-chair and founder of Lived Experiences Experts Working (L.E.E.W.G) for the IPATH taskforce when it was active. Mr. Harris is a graduate of the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy through National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Center (N.H.T.T.A.C.) and the Heal Trafficking MGH institute train the trainer academy 2020. Eric has a great passion for advocating for survivor’s rights and working to remove the stigma surrounding survivors of violence and human trafficking. Read more about Eric’s accomplishments here.

Interested in consulting with Eric? Eric specializes in working with males, educating on human trafficking, policy inclusion, program inclusion with having survivors as staff, implicit bias training, and mental health. Email Eric at eaharris1904@gmail.com to make an appointment. Rates are contingent on stakeholder needs.

I Get Mad

Indiana Disability Justice showcases artwork by people with all kinds of disabilities. We are here. We are human. We matter. We want to be seen.

Thank you, Jordan, for doing this very powerful artwork! We believe your work will encourage many others to be honest with the hard things in their own life!

(ArtMix offers avenues for people with disabilities to express themselves creativity- www.artmixindiana.org.)

Six panels connected to create a quilt. It tells the story of a character who takes their anger out on those around them, but how medication helps with that. In the first panel, the panel is sad. In the last panel, they are happy.

Current location: ArtMix
Size: w29.25”xh20.25”
Medium: Quilted found material, felt, marker
Artist’s name: Jordan Kent
Title: I Get Mad
Date: 2019

My piece makes me feel proud. When I was making my quilt it made me sad to think about what I did because I don’t like to be mean like that. Even though it made me sad, it feels good to talk about it. I really enjoyed making my project and I had fun with the materials and learning the steps. I had never made a story quilt before. I’m proud of my quilt. I want people to know that I’m happy if they like my artwork too.

About the Artist: Jordan Kent

In this photo, Jordan Kent has short light brown hair, has a giant smile, and is wearing a red shirt. He is holding a painting of a blue face with brown hair in front of a green background.

I was born in Indiana. I live with my mom and dad and my dog. My dog is a black lab mix and her name is Sophie. I am 26 years old- I was born on November 8, 1994. My full name is Daniel Jordan Kent. I have one brother and a sister-in-law. I live on the southside of Indy. I went to Franklin Central High School. I started with ArtMix programs when I was in high school. When high school was over, I joined the SPARC program. SPARC teaches you how to do laundry and cooking and other stuff like that. When I went to SPARC is when I joined the ArtMix program Urban Artisans. I like ceramics and am really good at detail work with finishing clay projects. I also like to make paintings and to glaze the ceramics. I want to learn how to make a sculpture for an art show someday.

Blue Brothers Kid

Indiana Disability Justice showcases artwork by people with all kinds of disabilities. We are here. We are human. We matter. We want to be seen. Thank you, Tom! Your artwark has such a cool element to it!

(ArtMix offers avenues for people with disabilities to express themselves creativity- www.artmixindiana.org.)

A pale ceramic mask with brown eyes, red lips, and black sunglasses.

Current location: ArtMix
Size: Three dimensional, widest point w6”x widest point h7.5”x tallest point 2”
Medium: Ceramic and plastic addition
Artist’s name: Tom Hamilton
Title: Blues Brothers Kid
Date: Unknown

I think this piece is entertaining. It was challenging to make it- to think up the designs and put it together. I had to go through the steps and make it work. The piece is made from a clay slab that I rolled and cut to shape. I added the glasses to the glazed ceramic mask with a hot glue gun to make my piece neat. I designed it around a character from the second Blues Brothers movie. The way I feel or think about my work goes a lot of different directions.

(ArtMix note: Tom really enjoys making, showing, talking about and selling his work. He uses templates to keep his work consistent and has worked hard over the years to develop his processes and a line of ceramics that is high quality and identifiable as his. Before Covid, Tom also volunteered at ArtMix with student check in for classes and as a guest musician at gallery events.)

About the Artist: Tom Hamilton

Tom grew up and went to high school in Indianapolis. He has attended classes at ArtMix for many years. He lives in the neighborhood and often stops by on his bike to say hi and check on his artwork.

Survivor Artist: From the Mud

The process of painting From the Mud

Painting Description: Textured background that is very rough to the touch, but you can see the grooves. The bottom left of the painting starts dark black and slowly transitions to dark purple and hombre effects into light colors at the top right corner. There is one lotus flower in the center, one to the left, and two to the left in the colors of pink and white. There are abstract blue and green lily pads to complete the aesthetic.

Lotus flowers, much like survivors of complex trauma, have learned to thrive in the most adverse of circumstances. These gorgeous specimens have reclaimed the concept of beauty and what it means to grow something lovely from filth, one that has become a beacon of light for my own healing journey. 15 years ago, I found myself caught in my own murky water and found my own way out 2 years later. Much like a lotus flower, I learned to thrive in the unkind world that helped to create the circumstances leading to my exploitation. One of the hardest lessons I ever had to learn during my 13 year recovery journey was to know when it is time to stop reliving the pain and to let myself heal and enjoy life. The voices of all my abusers past have faded as the years passed, and I slowly learned that I am worthy of love, acceptance, and happiness. They were so loud for so many years that even after I broke free from them, I still could not rid myself of their influence. You’re ugly. You are worthless. You will never find anyone else because no one wants to put up with you. You’ll never find a husband. God hates you. Everyone hates you. No one will help you. You don’t deserve to live. I think I was just afraid that if I let my pain go, I wouldn’t know where I came from or the kind of person I would become. I guess I was afraid that I would lose touch with my reality and forget that it even happened. But then it happened after several YEARS re-programming, re-defining, and re-learning what it means to thrive. I let my beautiful petals grow brighter and lovelier through each season of growth so that I could still have a life full of everything I thought I had lost. I decided I was worthy. Like a lotus, I fought through the murk and the mud to get to the light. And then I became my own light.

Charlie’s art is available for purchase at this link.

Charlie Quinn Tebow, LMSW, survivor, artist

Image of Charlie Tebow, the artist featured on this page. Caucasian non-binary individual with a big smile in front of a brick building wearing my favorite tie-dye shirt. Wild styled short pixie cut blonde hair

Image description: Caucasian non-binary individual with a big smile in front of a brick building wearing my favorite tie-dye shirt. Wild styled short pixie cut blonde hair

Creator Bio: An alumnus of Washburn University with a clinical Masters of Social Work degree, Charlie dedicates their life to serving others like them, CPTSD (chronic post traumatic stress disorder) survivors. Their day job as a social worker and Missing Youth Specialist on the Kansas Special Response Team for Missing and Exploited Youth provides them with opportunities to empower and engage runaway and exploited youth in foster care to overcome complex and compounded trauma, and find the path to who they want to be. Charlie is a dedicated advocate with specializations for persons who have experienced human sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, childhood trauma, interpersonal violence, and other complex or compounded traumas. Charlie is part of the LGBTQ community as a nonbinary person (they/them), and a staunch leader and participant in social justice activism. They are an ally for all trans and/or persons of color, as well as dedicated activist for Black Lives Matter and Trans Lives Matter movements. Charlie is a member of the National Human Trafficking Survivor Network and Survivor Leaders Institute, and has delivered keynote and training sessions to professionals from around the country. Charlie is also an accomplished artist and expert in the healing arts for survivors of complex trauma. Featuring bright colors and textures, their art has been featured in 35 states and sold to patrons from around the globe.