The Black Pearls Affirmative Action Awards™, which were presented to two outstanding members of the African Diaspora, debuted last year.  It was an auspicious beginning as 2005 was also the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the fortieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, the thirtieth anniversary of the National Association of Black Journalists, and the tenth anniversary of the Million Man March.

Eric chose the name of the prizes in response to a growing trend he has observed among black Americans.

"More and more of us are taking what has been used to denigrate us - the color of our skin, the fullness of our lips, the texture of our hair - and transforming them into symbols that inspire us to strive towards excellence and prosperity," he said. 

He added that by the same token the phrase "affirmative action" has been used to belittle black accomplishments.

"How many times have you heard that some hard-working black person got this job or that promotion only because of 'affirmative action,' " Eric said.

The Black Pearls Affirmative Action Awards™ turn the social meaning of the phrase on its head.

"The people who have been voted to receive the award have 'affirmed,' through 'action' the very best of what it means to be of African descent," Eric said.  "They are inspirations - people after whom all of us, regardless of our ethnic heritage, can model our behavior."

Last year’s winners were chosen from among six nominees submitted to the subscribers to Girlhome, a Listserv specializing in news of particular interest to African American communities, which was founded by Ossie Richards, who also hosts the group.

The inaugural winners were Prof. Charles Ogletree, the Harvard law professor, and Gloria Brown, an advocate for African-American health initiatives and health education.  The award winners received $200 each in prize money.

Prof. Ogletree was nominated for his tireless work in making America a more just society, and specifically for founding the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard and for his pro bono work seeking reparations for the blacks who lost their property during the 1921 race riots in Tulsa, Okla. He is donated the proceeds of his award to BELL, which stands for Building Educated Leaders for Life (www.bellnational.org).   BELL is a community-based, non-profit organization founded in 1992 by African-American law students at Harvard. Their mission is to increase the educational opportunities and achievements of elementary school children living in low-income communities through after school tutoring, summer studies courses and other programs. The non-profit organization has branches in New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland.

Ms. Brown was nominated for her unstinting efforts to improve the health of African-Americans, and specifically for chairing the African American Community Health Advisory Committee (AACHAC), a non-profit organization in San Mateo County, Calif., dedicated to increasing awareness of health issues that disproportionately affect African-Americans.  In giving Ms. Brown her award, Mr. Copage also noted her leadership in the organization’s 2005 Soul Stroll for Health, a four-year-old event whose mission is to raise awareness of the importance of physical activity and good nutrition to African Americans. Ms. Brown donated the proceeds of her Black Pearls Affirmative Action Award™ to the AACHAC (www.aachac.org).

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Mr. Copage said he plans for future Black Pearls Affirmative Action Awards™ to be presented on Oct. 16th of each year, in recognition of the Million Man March.

Eric V. Copage is a former editor at the New York Times magazine, a former reporter at Life magazine and the New York Daily News, and a former music columnist for Essence magazine.  He is the author of best-selling, prize-winning Black Pearls series of meditation books for African Americans, which have sold more than a half million copies. He is also the author of "Fruits of the Harvest," a landmark collection of recipes and tales from the African Diaspora for Kwanzaa and other holidays. His novella "Between Father and Son: An African-American Fable," was lauded by the Los Angeles Times as "potent. . . threaded through with morals and sobering life lessons without heavy-handed moralizing." Eric can be contacted at eric@blackpearlsliving.com.

Ms. Richards founded Girlhome, a Listserv specializing in news of interest to the black Americans, in 1998. Her more than 2,500 subscribers receive a digest of a wide range of topics from human interest, to humor to politics. You can subscribe to her Listserv by going to Google.com, clicking "groups" and subscribing to Girlhome.