African-American Artists Create Tribute to Black History Month

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ --

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- African-American Poet Nikki Giovanni and Visual Artist Kadir Nelson have created a tribute to Black History Month with original artwork commissioned by Sears, Roebuck and Co. for its commemorative calendar "The Good Life 2005." Sears is proud to celebrate African-American history and culture through an original keepsake calendar distributed to nearly two million customers free of charge at its stores nationwide now through February. Giovanni and Nelson worked together in a unique collaboration to create four poems and four paintings for this year's calendar that depict images and passages of the "good life" of African- American families.

"Every year we look forward to creating a new and meaningful calendar that demonstrates to our customers that we not only value African-American culture, but that we also celebrate it across our entire company," said Joan Chow, vice president of multicultural marketing. "We want all of our customers, employees and the communities that we serve to have an opportunity to celebrate the unique contributions African-Americans have made to art, culture and history."

Sears will host autograph sessions for customers to meet Giovanni and Nelson at select stores in Jackson, Mississippi; Chicago, Illinois; and Richmond, Virginia in late January and early February. These events will be free and open to the public. This year marks the seventh year that the Sears calendars have been created and to date, more than eight million have been distributed nationwide. In years past, the calendar has featured original work from Billy Dee Williams (2004), Christopher M. Thomas (2003), Samuel Akainyah (2002) and Annie Lee (2001)