Hope

Reflection Project by Nicole Lynch, JD 2008

NB: One of our assignments was to complete a reflection project, which could be non-legal, personal reflections based on your interest in domestic violence issues. This project was intended to help tie together the domestic violence issues with our own personal development as a lawyer, and to reflect on those connections in a way to foster our personal and professional development.

DON’T THINK, NOT FOR A MOMENT

STRONG AND CONFIDENT IS WHAT I USE TO BE
THEN, I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU AND LOST ALL OF ME

YOUR LOVE COST ME A LOT OF PAIN
BLACK EYES, BROKEN BONES, GUILT, AND SHAME
IT WASN'T ALWAYS THAT WAY YOU SEE

IN THE BEGINNING WE WERE AS HAPPY AS WE COULD BE
YOU WAS MY SHINNING STAR, MY HOPES, AND DREAMS
WE WERE WHAT, EVERYONE CONSIDERED THE WINNING TEAM

I REMEMBER WALKING DOWN THE AISLE
HOLDING HANDS AND EXCHANGING VOWS
YOU PUT A GOLD RING ON MY HAND
AND, AT THAT MOMENT I THOUGHT LIFE WAS GRAND

SOON THINGS BEGAN TO CHANGE
I WAS LIVING IN A HOUSE FULL OF PAIN
I LOST MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS FOR YOU
AS I CONTINUED TO BE ABUSED

NEVER DID I THINK THIS WOULD BE ME
A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LIKE THOSE ON T.V.
I LEARNED RACE, SEX, AND PREFENCES DON'T MATTER
OR WHETHER YOU VOTE REPUBLICAN OR DEMONCRATIC

I WENT TO COLLEGE, I HAVE A DEGREE
I'M SMART WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME

I STARTED TO THINK IT WAS ALL MY FAULT
CAUSE ALL I WANTED WAS THE ARGUMENTS, FIGHTS, AND BEATING TO STOP

AT NIGHT I WOULD WATCH YOU SLEEP
TRYING TO DECIDE SHOULD I LEAVE AND CREEP CREEP
HOWEVER, I COULDN'T LEAVE WHILE YOU WERE THERE

I THOUGHT BRAVE BUT HAD LOTS OF FEARS
WHO WOULD HELP ME WHO WOULD CARE
WOULD I BE DOOMED TO THIS LIFE OF DISPAIR

I WENT TO A GROUP AND MET SOME FOLKS
WHO ALSO BEEN BEAT DOWN AND SPRITUALLY BROKE

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CAN'T BE STEROTYPED
TO BLACKS, ASIANS, HISPANICS, OR WHITES

I LEARN THAT IT IS HAPPENING EVERYWHERE
YOU CAN START OFF WITH CONFIDENCE AND END IN DISPAIR
BUT STILL, LOVING ME BY HITTING ME ISN'T FAIR

I WANT MY PEOM TO TOUCH ONE OF YOU
IN HOPES IN HEALING OR STOPPING THE CYCLE OF ABUSE


NEVER THINK FOR A MINUTE THAT THIS CAN'T HAPPEN TO YOU
DON'T BE IGNORANCE, DON'T BE A FOOL
CAUSE I USE TO BE ONE WHO SAID THAT TOO

NEVER EVEN HAD A CLUE
EVEN WHEN I WAS BEATEN BLACK AND BLUE

TODAY I'M A SURVIVOR OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
JUST LIKE THOSE FOLKS I WATCVHED ON TV

MY MIND IS OPEN TO A LOT OF THINGS
EVERYTHING IS NOT AS IT ALWAYS SEEMS

SILENCE EQUALS DEATH IN A LOT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES
FROM COUNTIRES TO CITIES, TO REGIONAL PLACES

I COULD NOT LEAVE WITHOUT LEAVING A SPACE
IF YOU ARE EVER IN NEED CALL 1-800-799-SAFE

THE VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 1994
IS A MEASURE TO ENSURE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HAPPENS NO MORE

SO DO YOUR PART AND TAKE A STAND
AND LETS CREATE A DV WORLD WIDE BAND

By: Florence B. Cornish, JD 2008

Broken: A Reflection on Domestic Violence

Broken
A Reflection on Domestic Violence

Broken plans
Broken table
Broken bones
Broken dreams
Broken heart
Broken image of the girl I knew
Picking up the pieces…

While reading the stories of battered women, I experienced an intense realization. I recognized something familiar in their stories, something that resembled me. The concept behind this project was to symbolize this realization as well as domestic violence in general.

I included broken mirrors in the center of the mosaic so that every woman and person can see a little of herself in the stories of other woman. Additionally, my piece presents an illusion to the observer. One may see the broken tiles being put back together, while others may see the image breaking apart. The answer: both. Much like the cycle of abusive in intimate relationships, it's difficult to tell just when the pieces have been picked up, or when they have fallen apart…

-- Emilee Gayle Drobbin, JD 2008

NB: One of our assignments was to complete a reflection project, which could be non-legal, personal reflections based on your interest in domestic violence issues. This project was intended to help tie together the domestic violence issues with our own personal development as a lawyer, and to reflect on those connections in a way to foster our personal and professional development.

Freedom

Reflection Project by Natasha Moodie, JD 2008

NB: One of our assignments was to complete a reflection project, which could be non-legal, personal reflections based on your interest in domestic violence issues. This project was intended to help tie together the domestic violence issues with our own personal development as a lawyer, and to reflect on those connections in a way to foster our personal and professional development.

Why We Stay

Why We Stay

This collage represents all the various reasons someone decides to stay in an abusive relationship. The phrases are surrounded by flowers, which depict the way a victim uses these excuses to justify and defend the abusive relationship, making the relationship seem perfect to friends and family.

-- Danielle Murray, JD 2007

NB: One of our assignments was to complete a reflection project, which could be non-legal, personal reflections based on your interest in domestic violence issues. This project was intended to help tie together the domestic violence issues with our own personal development as a lawyer, and to reflect on those connections in a way to foster our personal and professional development.

Web of Violence

Anna Wildeman, JD 2007

NB: One of our assignments was to complete a reflection project, which could be non-legal, personal reflections based on your interest in domestic violence issues. This project was intended to help tie together the domestic violence issues with our own personal development as a lawyer, and to reflect on those connections in a way to foster our personal and professional development.

Who is the man at the door dad?

Who is the man at the door dad?

My father did not want to let him in. Ma insisted.
He sat on our couch and my brother and I watched from the kitchen.
He told my mother that he had gotten married.
He gave her a picture.
I saw it later. It was of a young woman with a baby.

I found my mom crying on the couch.
She kept saying “he was a good man.”
Who was a good man Ma?
“Your grandfather died yesterday.”
Wasn’t he already dead?
“He came to the door once.”
I did not remember seeing him. But I know he had a mustache.

Today makes five years sober.
I was the only one not mad at her.
Today she told me my grandfather was an alcoholic.
My father hated him. Blamed him.
Today she told me my grandfather hit her, hit Abuela, hit Titi Nancy, hit Titi Mini.
She loved him. Blamed herself.
Today she showed me her scars.
I don’t hate him.

-- Reflection Project by Rosa Mendez, JD 2008


NB: One of our assignments was to complete a reflection project, which could be non-legal, personal reflections based on your interest in domestic violence issues. This project was intended to help tie together the domestic violence issues with our own personal development as a lawyer, and to reflect on those connections in a way to foster our personal and professional development.