We Were Seeds: An Illustrated Novella of Healing and Transformation - Paperback

Ford Dessables, Diane: - Diane Ford Dessables is a storyteller, minister, and cultural worker whose life's calling unfolds at the meeting place of faith, justice, and healing. Her path turned irrevocably toward this work in 2009, during a visit to Haiti, when ancestral memory and present-day reality braided together in a way she could not ignore.Her lifelong commitment to voice and liberation is deeply personal-shaped in part by her early years navigating dyslexia and not learning to read or write until age twelve. That journey from silence to self-expression fuels her belief in the transformative power of story and the resilience of the human spirit. On Juneteenth 2019, she opened the Gemstones in the Sun blog-a gathering place for reflections on belief, shifting values, and shared resources among people of color in the United States. A year later, she founded Gemstones in the Sun Incorporated, a nonprofit that creates spaces for global communities of color to heal from the harms of modernity-cultural norms and the subtle ways it entangles us all.Her ministry and activism have spanned decades and continents-from grassroots campaigns in Virginia's Tidewater region to global anti-hunger initiatives through Bread for the World and vocational work for the 6,000 congregations of the United Church of Christ. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communicative and Performing Arts, with a concentration in Theatrical Directing from the University of the District of Columbia, as well as master's degrees in both Divinity and Communication (specializing in journalism) from Boston University. She weaves together performance, media, storytelling, religion, and society into her justice work. A native of the Washington, D.C. area, Diane is a bisexual woman, a member of the recovery community, and the joyful spouse of Djalòki Dessables of Haitian descent. Together they are parents to four adult children. She uses she/her pronouns.Montague, Victor, III: - Victor Montague III is a self-taught artist, born and raised in the nation's capital, Washington, DC, (USA). Specializing in realism and figurative painting, he uses his work as a visual language to communicate stories rooted in culture, identity, and lived experience.Drawing inspiration from his surroundings and personal history, Victor Montague invites viewers to engage a literal yet emotionally resonant portrayal of culture-one that is both captivating and powerful. Through meticulous detail and expressive composition, his artwork creates space for reflection, conversation, and a deeper examination of the human condition.Jones, Justin Keith Keith: - Justin Keith Jones is a designer, educator, and Art Director for We Were Seeds. His work is shaped by experience across private educational institutions, social services, and community-based settings, anchoring a creative practice rooted in culture, identity, and lived experience. He established a creative business spanning urban streetwear design, where visual language and social meaning intersect.Grounded in graduate training in psychology, Justin approaches design as a form of care-attentive to memory and trauma, creating spaces where diverse perspectives and people meet, and engaging the lived realities of retail markets. For We Were Seeds, he guided the project's visual language, translating themes of ancestral memory and collective healing into imagery that invites reflection and connection.