AVLF - Inspiring Art in Atlanta

AVLF -  Inspiring Art in Atlanta

On view at the Emory Center for Ethics until February 6^th is a collection of work which is meant to view, address, and examine the dynamics of relationships and homes fraught with intimate partner violence.

 This collection is the work of two and a half years and spans the time I spent working with AVLF at the Safe Families Office, assisting victims of abuse with filing for Temporary Protective Orders.  I was affected deeply by what I saw at the Safe Families Office and as an artist felt compelled to try and illustrate even a portion of what I was seeing in a way and space that others might witness it as well.  This has not always been an easy task and I have had many doubts and fears about the work I am making. 

Relationships are complicated, like the work to serve the people involved in them, because they are built on hope and love, which are strong bonds even in the face of violence.  Watching people leave and go back, watching people reconcile, and watching people get hurt is not easy as an advocate.  What I am clearest about, however, is how the discomfort I feel is nothing to the pain the survivors feel and that is a pain I will never fully understand.  As I have said many times, victims of domestic violence must watch the places they feel safe be turned into places of fear.   Homes are turned into war zones and into prisons.  The many objects they use in their daily lives become tools of oppression and weapons of violence.

Capturing the violence without sensationalizing what is happening is vital to me.  I want someone to view this and understand how bad it is, but also to understand that “bad” is contextual.  Sometimes bad is not visible to the outside and it is not a bruised eye.  Sometimes “bad” is a threat and that threat is a truly heavy burden.  I want someone to understand how universal this issue is and to see that this is also them, their neighbor, and this is happening in their backyard.  I want someone to understand various dynamics that affect a person’s choices, decisions, and change within this violence.  What outside forces are pushing this person to stay?  What is pushing them to leave?  What fears do they have? 

It is my firm belief that understanding is and can never be complete, but knowing even a portion of the struggle is valuable and integral to changing these actions and behaviors.

 

“The Artwork of Jessica Caldas” is on view at the Emory Center for Ethics until February 6^th, 2014.

There will be an artist talk on Wednesday, February 5^th at 6:30 pm.  The talk is free to the public and will be in the Center for Ethics room 102.

Location:

Emory University

Center for Ethics

1531 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322

Hours: 8:30 AM- 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday

You can view more of my work at jessicacaldas.com

Fighting for the Oppressed until They’re Made Whole

Fighting for the Oppressed until They’re Made Whole

By Ryan Locke, Criminal Defense Attorney, Locke Law Firm

As a criminal defense lawyer, I often receive frantic calls. A family member was just hauled away by the cops, or the news just said the caller has been indicted, or the police are at the door with a search warrant. But one call gave me pause: “The sheriff is on his way to my house,” sobbed the woman on the phone, “and he’s going to arrest me unless I pay the debt collector. What should I do?”

I’ve received similar versions of this call since then, and they all end the same way. The sheriff never comes and the debt collector—if he isn’t just an outright fraud—lays low before calling a few days later with more threats and demands.

I didn’t know about this side of debt collection before working with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation. But then one Saturday morning I met Sandra, who had come to AVLF for help. She was being harassed by debt collectors for a supposedly unpaid store credit card. Sandra thought she had paid it off but wasn’t sure, so she asked them to send her proof of the debt. Instead, they filed suit.

AVLF had my back. They sent me their in-house treatise on debt collection defense and put me in touch with an expert debt-defense attorney. Pulling together language from their resources and my research, I filed an answer and counterclaim the day before court and hand-delivered it to the debt collector’s bewildered attorney on the courthouse steps. She offered a mutual dismissal of claims with prejudice.

As it turns out, the store that issued Sandra the credit card went bankrupt, and Sandra’s debt was sold to a holding company that resold the debt to the collector. But the debt collector only bought Sandra’s name and phone number; he didn’t buy the paperwork proving that a debt existed. We still don’t know if Sandra actually owed the store any money. But for Sandra, the calls stopped and that was a win.

I’ve continued working with AVLF, suing misbehaving landlords and demanding companies pay their workers. Two things remain constant for each case. First, you’re a member of the AVLF team. Michael Lucas, who oversees many of these cases, is an expert co-counsel advising on strategy and technique. One weekend, he even sent me an excited text about different ways to serve process on my out-of-state defendant.

Second, resolving the clients’ seemingly minor problems has a profound effect on their lives. A landlord releasing the security deposit is the difference between moving out of the moldy and cockroach-infested apartment or suffering through another month.

In my criminal defense practice, I stand with the accused and fight for their freedom. With AVLF, I fight for the poor and oppressed until they’re made whole. Please join me, and the hundreds of other volunteers, in this critical pursuit.     

Ryan Locke is the founder and managing member of the Locke Law Firm, specializing in criminal defense.