WELCOME TO BLACK PEARLS LIVING™

What are Black Pearls? One myth says black pearls were born from the meeting of a rainbow with the earth. Another describes black pearls as beams of heavenly light given by gods to humans as symbols of harmony, love and beauty. In Imperial China, black pearls were a symbol of wisdom. In Tahiti black pearls were symbols of hope.

Black Pearls are rare gems. In their wild habitat they occur in fewer than one in every 10,000 oysters. It’s no wonder that black pearls are the most highly prized of any kind of pearl.

Black Pearls are words of wisdom, inspiration and practical advice from people of African descent around the world and throughout all time. They can come from someone seated right next to you. Just listen – your favorite aunt or uncle, your mother or father, your barber or your hairdresser might be providing you with the words you need to inspire you today, or words that will give you strength tomorrow.

Black Pearls are people. Like the gemstones, which range in color from deep silver to yellowish bronze to charcoal, Black Pearls people come in a variety of hues. They come holding a variety of religious and political beliefs. They are Afro-Latino, Afro-Caribbean, African American and African. They come from around the world.

Gemstone black pearls are formed around a fragment of seashell or grain of sand, something that irritates the inside of the oyster, but that is transformed into a radiant jewel avidly sought after by entertainment celebrities, business tycoons and kings and queens. Similarly, Black Pearls people have the gift of transforming the challenges they face in life into opportunities for fulfillment, prosperity and empowerment.

Black Pearls Lifestyle™ is the expression of this power of transformation, and of the expression of pride in our heritage not only by what we say, but by how we live. In Black Pearls Lifestyle™ we express our pride by being a loving parent, taking care of ourselves physically and spiritually, contributing to our communities, and making learning a lifelong endeavor. Living a Black Pearls Lifestyle™ means savoring the good this life has to offer, from the colors of a summer sunset to the sound of the ocean on a moonless night. Black Pearls Lifestyle™ is expressed in the confluence of touch, sights, smells, sounds and tastes of two bodies becoming one while making love. Black Pearls Lifestyle™ is the declaration of our passion for living.

Many people are already living a Black Pearls Lifestyle™ but haven't known to call it that. Rappers such as Nas and KRS-One, who put positive messages in their rhymes, are living a Black Pearls Lifestyle™. Singers such as Jill Scott and Tk!!!!!!!! epitomize Black Pearls Lifestyle™ in their affirmation of the complexity, and yet the goodness of life. Actors, directors and producers such as Denzel Washington and Danny Glover, whose works educate as well as entertain, are exemplars of Black Pearls Lifestyle™. A black man or woman who truly savors a meal or breaks into song is living a Black Pearls Lifestyle™.

Those looking for daily inspiration for a Black Pearls Lifestyle™ can click on the Black Pearls RaceCard™ button on this Web site. There you’ll find meditations, affirmations and inspirations adapted from the best-selling series of Black Pearls meditation books. You can also send these online inspirations as e-cards to friends, family members and colleagues, or suggest they visit the Black Pearls Guide, if they want to know more about the lifestyle.

Join the Black Pearls Lifestyle™ Internet community on this site and become part of the conversation. Tell the Black Pearls village your own favorite inspirational story of Black Pearls Lifestyle™. Share your favorite affirmation, where you got it and how the Black Pearls Lifestyle™ has helped you find strength or given you peace. Tell us how you are living a Black Pearls Lifestyle™ and how you are telling your friends about it. Give inspiration to others on their journey in the Black Pearls Lifestyle™ community. If you have a specific problem, post it. Perhaps someone else in the Black Pearls village will have a suggestion.

Check out the Black Pearls Affirmative Action Awards™, which debuted last year, and see how the inaugural recipients of the awards, Prof. Charles Ogletree of Harvard and Ms. Gloria Brown, a health activist in Northern California, redefine the words “affirmative action.” If you are curious about the author of the Black Pearls books, or interested in reading an excerpt from the novella, Between Father and Son, or getting a sample of the recipes from the cookbook, Fruits of the Harvest, click on the biography of Eric V. Copage.

On our multicultural planet, where people of color increasingly have clout as well as numbers, we of African descent must ask ourselves what our culture, our race, will mean in the changing global community. What values will permit us to prosper in this brave new multihued world, and how shall we display those values. Black Pearls Lifestyle™ is one suggestion. What better way to show what we believe than through the daily actions of how we live.