( February 28, 2007) LOS ANGELES – The NAACP will be able to raise extra funds for its core initiatives that focus on economic empowerment, health, education and criminal justice when it auctions off books signed by celebrities at the 2007 NAACP Image Awards Friday.

Verizon has arranged for celebrities, politicians and other luminaries to autograph 75 books from ten bestselling African-American authors like Walter Mosley and Chris Gardner, who have all been nominated for the Image Awards this year. The signed books will then be donated to NAACP on behalf of the Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, which is committed to improving literacy and K-12 education, fostering awareness and prevention of domestic violence and promoting the use of technology in health care delivery.


WHEN:
Friday, March 2, at 5 p.m.

WHERE:
Shrine Auditorium (Press Walk Area)
665 W. Jefferson Blvd. (at Royal St.)
Los Angeles.

WHO:
NAACP Image Awards nominees and celebrities include:
Barack Obama, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Brown, Lionel Richie,
Vanessa Williams, Bernie Mac, Patti Labelle, John Legend and more.

BACKGROUND:
Verizon, a longtime supporter of the NAACP Image Awards, is a Silver Sponsor of the event this year. During the weekend-long event, Verizon will host several readings of a poem entitled “Make Your History” by J. Ivy, which encourages African-Americans to make history every day because “history is more than a memory, it’s a movement, an act by certain individuals, who have found the ability to make time stand still.” Verizon launched a community-support advertising campaign with this theme in late January. For more information, visit www.verizon.com/makeyourhistory.