Archives 2001

"I never realized Black history could be for sale. With a slick advertising campaign, we`ve sold more African garments than a street vendor in Ghana. We could use Black History every month. Too bad February is the shortest month of the year," said white American Susan Garson of J.C. Penny`s community relations department dressed in a genuine mud cloth outfit.

J.C. Penny currently has a large display of African sculptures, artwork and furniture that covers an entire floor in some stores. The popular American store has also launched a "Trace Your Lineage" Kit that will show African Americans how to trace their ancestry, explained Ms. Garson. "We`re hoping to help African Americans get reparations. We`re counting of the fact that if we help then get paid, they`ll remain loyal customers."

Using billboards, ads in African American publications and radio spots, companies have finally realized the need for marketing plans targeting the enormous spending power of African Americans.

With full-page newspaper ads in over 100 Black publications nationwide, Kmart is also cashing in. The huge discount store even sells replicas of newspapers published during antebellum south that report on bloody slave uprisings. These items sell for as much as $500 for a duplicate and upwards of $5,000 for the original. "When I look at these publications and read about the uprisings, all I can do is thank God for Denmark Vessy, Gabriel Prosser and especially Nat Turner," said Kathleen Xavier of Kmart. "These were some hard core brothers who knew how to scare the slave master."