Don't Cry: A Family's Story of Struggle, Hope, Inspiration, and Success

Don't Cry is the story of the life of Edward and Frances Powell and their progeny. The Powell family began in the rural country area of North Carolina called Mount Olive and Cedar Grove, on a 200-acre farm in Columbus County, eight miles from the town of Whiteville. Farming was their way of life. The Powells, who had a reverence and a love for themselves and for others, were dreamers who worked hard to make their dreams realities. They had goals and ideas and ways to achieve them. This resulted in the Powells being both educated and cultured, even though the income from the farm was never enough to support one of them fully in college. However, the children matriculated at thirteen of the most outstanding colleges in the United States. Six of them graduated from college, four from graduate school, and three from postgraduate school. Don't Cry is a narrative of the third Powell daughter, Flora's, memories of the family's life and is an intimate look at a Southern African American family.