Blackpearl is the pen name for N. Jamise Steward a new resident of Atlanta, Georgia - Blackpearl is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Of her poetry she has to say, "I want my poetry to tap someone on the shoulder, and whisper 'you are not alone anymore.' I write to cast light into those dark places that we go through such painstaking lengths to hide.By shedding light on the very issues that the enemy holds over our heads, we are no longer captives but free."

Blackpearl - 29, and single mom of two, aspires toward obtaining her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. She would like to strengthen families by operating a non-profit organization that will open the lines of communications of single family homes and estranged parents, and educate adolescent teens about the many opportunities that exist outside of their immediate environments.

Right now, she is working on opening a poetry venue for up-and-coming poets in the Atlanta area, and she is in the process of recording a spoken word CD and compiling material for a book of her poetry.