[4][5] Sherman Beck was one of ten key original members of the AfriCOBRA (the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) Collective based in Chicago, Illinois.
"Cool Ade" signified on the brand name Kool-Aid, a sugary drink mix found in American homes of that era that came in bright colors like cherry, grape, lemon, orange, and lime.
[10] The colors used by Beck and other AfriCOBRA artists were bright, warm, eye-catching, and intense and, when paired with imagery and themes drawn from Black American life and culture, created a vivid aesthetic of "shine" that stood out from social realist styles of the era.
[11][9] Beck's painting features brightly colored geometric patterns, often in combination with free-floating portraits of Black historical figures such as Frederick Douglass, Biddy Mason, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Shirley Chisholm.
'"[17] One of Beck's paintings was displayed behind Ebony Executive Editor Herbert Nipson's desk when the magazine's new corporate offices opened up at 820 South Michigan Avenue in 1972, the first Black-owned and Black-designed building in downtown Chicago's business district, The Loop.
[18] Beck's painting was purchased for the Johnson Publishing Company's famed collection of African American Art along with work by Carrie Mae Weems, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Elizabeth Catlett, and others.
[19] Sherman Beck illustrated the 1971 children's book Colors Around Me by Vivian Church, notable for his renderings of the many shades of African American skin tone and its clear message that "Black is Beautiful.