As Black people, our challenge is to find gems and draw hope from a past that was everything but hopeful. 

 

We need encouragement from positive stories, facts, new images, uplifting ideas, and to learn about how people like ourselves overcame adversities way before our generation existed and to learn about how they then continued to do so again and again with determination. 

 

We usually don’t have to look for negative stories or ones that portray us as poor, unable to manage, destitute and unable to do for ourselves people.  Sadly, that is done for us time and time again.

 

This collection was about finding the gemstones, putting together the pieces of mineral crystals, cutting and polishing them to display as adornments. 

 

So this is a hopeful and congratulatory collection.

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Most of the photographs in this collection were donated from many families over many years that were kind and generous to share part of their story with the world. 

 

 

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