Making my shrine was a very exhilarating and personal experience.  At first I was skeptical about how well I would do but eventually it came together nicely.  After choosing the correct cigar box, I started working from the outside, then on to the inside.  For one side I cut up a very personal card that my brother wrote to me; there are two hands, one trying to grasp a heart and the other trying to grasp a feather.  Both of these objects have a very interesting meaning: the heart, of course, means love and the feather is symbolic for freedom.  In between these two hands I pasted the quote, “You are on the right path, always have been.”  I choose to put this card on the cigar box because, along with my mother, my brother, A.J. is a very influential and important person to me.

 With the theme of family in my mind I moved around to the other side of the box and with little golden letters spelled out the word family.  Also, in the space between the letters, I pasted a copy of a photo of a southern, Black family from back in the 19th century that reminded me of one of my father's family photos.  Continuing around the box to add a more jovial mood to my shrine, I pasted a picture of my mother.  This picture was taken at home, and my mother's expression fully captures the reasons I love her and how much we are alike.  “A picture is worth a thousand words”.

Now with the exterior done I hit an obstacle, what to portray on the interior.  Since I concentrated on the outside on my family and what is important to me, I decided to follow the same theme on the inside.  In the inside center I put a map of Africa, seeing as that is where my family comes from. Also, inside on the left,  I put the American flag and a picture of the Statue of Liberty, and on the opposite side I put a picture of slaves being sold.  This reminded me of the past and the future, from being sold as pieces of property to eventually being given the freedoms for which the American flag and Statue of Liberty stand.  Along with the pictures I also put up paper clips that I found to remind me of the chains that are still oppressing African Americans today, along with some wellness beads that Jean Lacy gave to our class.  Finally, the last piece that I put inside the shrine is a cross I made and I glued it to a rock with the words, He is my rock.  This is symbolic of my father and is the perfect focal point of my shrine.