For Immediate Release
Contact: Amanda J. Holman
January 10, 2005
816-591-9502
773-743-7288
ChicagoEvents (at) afropop.org

Afropop Creates Chicago’s First Black History Month Calendar

Afropop Worldwide, a non-profit multimedia organization, calls for event submissions to the first comprehensive calendar listing all Black History Month events happening in the Chicago area for 2005.

Afropop seeks information on theater, art exhibits, music and dance concerts, lectures, panel discussions, and classes relating to African history, culture, and life happening in Chicago throughout the year, particularly during the month of February. These events are compiled into a Chicago-specific calendar on the Afropop.org website and emailed as part of a weekly email newsletter sent to over 21,000 subscribers. This is a free service for both subscribers and event promoters, but all events posted to the website must be open to the public.

Annually hundreds of Chicago-area universities, cultural centers, performance arts groups, and more host Black History Month events for the public. With Afropop’s comprehensive calendar of these events, audiences will be more informed and exposed to new organizations or activities. Event planners can be more effective in attracting audiences and collaborating with other organizations celebrating Black History Month and other African events throughout the year.

To get your event listed on the website at www.afropop.org/multi/feature/ID/422/, please the following information to ChicagoEvents (at) afropop.org for consideration for the weekly calendar:
• Event title and sponsors;
• Event date, time, and street address location;
• Brief description of the event (no more than 50 words);
• Event admission cost and appropriate age restrictions;
• Website address with more information about the event or sponsors;
• Your willingness to donate tickets for the event to Afropop.org’s “Free Stuff” website feature.

Afropop’s vision is to increase the profile of African and African Diaspora music worldwide, and to see that benefits go back to artists, music industry professionals, and the countries that produce the music. Afropop is a radio program, a web site, a searchable database, an international musical archive, a team of researchers, and a travel series to Africa and Latin America. “Afropop” is also now used as a general term to describe popular African music.

In 1988, interest in international pop was at an all-time high and National Public Radio launched Afropop as a weekly series. It was the first of its kind and, years later, the program has expanded its vision to include the music and cultures that encompass the entire African Diaspora. Now known as Afropop Worldwide (APWW), the program is still the standard for both the curious and the connoisseur.

Afropop airs on Chicago’s Public Radio, WBEZ 91.5 FM, on Friday nights at 8:00pm. Hosted by one of Africa 's best-loved broadcast personalities, Georges Collinet, Afropop Worldwide is currently distributed by PRI—Public Radio International to over 100 stations in the U.S. The series is also heard in Europe and Africa.