My artwork describes slavery as being a very depressing and dark time for black people. Eventually, they gain freedom thanks to Mr. Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation idea. I chose to use the materials charcoal, chalk, and a purple and green chalk pastel to bring the mask out of two dimensions and into three dimensions. The colors I used were to separate the mask from the background so it would not get lost. I got this idea of drawing a mask while talking to one of my friend's grandparents who had family that lived on Philipsburg Manor as slaves. To my amazement the story that they gave me was so detailed that it was like I was able to picture what the life of a slave on Philipsburg Manor was like and it all brought me back to my first idea of the origin and culture of the slaves. Masks can mean a lot of things, but it's origin in African culture that is most important. I never heard of someone's culture being ripped away from them, because that is one of the things that is impossible to take away from a human being. Culture is a part of having pride and pride stays within a person no matter what the outcome is.