In 1999, Blackside, Inc. received $800,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to produce I’ll Make Me a World: A Century of African-American Arts, a 6-part series on the history of African-American arts in the 20th century narrated by Vanessa Williams. Winner of the 1999 Peabody Award, I’ll Make Me a World is divided into three two-hour parts exploring literature, poetry, music, visual arts, theater, and dance. The first, Lift Every Voice: 1900- 1934, examines the artistic development of African- Americans from the turn of the century to the Harlem Renaissance. The second, Stormy Weather: 1935-1963, focuses on African roots, protest genres, and avant-garde styles from the Depression era to the Cold War. The last, Re:Creation: 1964-The Present, looks at contemporary trends in African-American art, from the Black Arts Movement until today.

Blackside, Inc. was a Boston-based company established by Henry Hampton (1940-98) in 1968, Hampton’s works chronicle the 20th century’s great political and social movements, focusing on the lives of the poor and disenfranchised. Best known of Hampton’s 60-plus major film and media projects was the 14-part series Eyes on the Prize which ran in primetime on PBS stations in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Twenty years after its release it is still considered the definitive work on the Civil Rights Movement. Hampton’s other documentaries include The Great Depression (1993), Malcolm X: Make It Plain (1994), America’s War on Poverty (1995), Breakthrough: The Changing Face of Science in America (1997), Hopes on the Horizon (1999) and This Far by Faith (2003).