Remove the ham from the slow-cooker and remove the meat from the bone and return it to soup. Add the garlic powder, chili powder, green pepper, and chicken stock. Cook for 1 hour more.

While the soup is cooking, boil the cubed sweet potato in a medium saucepan for about 10 minutes over medium high heat. I do this on the stove instead of adding it to the soup to cook, so that the sweet potato retains its orange color. You will see that all other veggies cooked with the black beans will turn black as well.

Remove the bay leaves from the slow-cooker. Carefully use an immersion blender to blend some of the beans on the bottom of the slow-cooker. A few short blasts with the hand-blender will do the trick. Make sure the blender is completely submerged so you don't splash hot soup out of the slow-cooker. Try to leave some beans whole. If you do not have an immersion blender, remove about 3 cups of the soup to a regular blender and puree it before adding it back to the slow-cooker. This helps to thicken the soup and gives it a smoother texture.