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I'LL MAKE ME A WORLD
A Century of African-American Arts, Artists, and Communities
A New Public Television Series by Blackside, Inc.

SERIES CONCEPT

African-American artists have been the unrecognized authors of so much of what is considered American culture. The unique contribution of black music, in all its many varieties, is a story in itself, infusing all American music forms from folk to orchestral, opera to the top forty. Black dance has given shape to much of American popular dance, from its very beginnings in open-air dances on plantations and in towns throughout the South, to the African origins of the Cakewalk, the Black Bottom and the Lindy Hop.

Since the end of slavery, African-American artists have performed on our theatrical stages, and are today in an unprecedented period of achievement as writers, actors, directors and producers of American theater and film. Less widely recognized is the impact of the work of visual artists and writers in lending shape to the arts and letters of other emerging "cultures of identity," from the model of protest literature created before the turn of the century, to the inventive work of contemporary and emerging writers.

In America, black artists have been distinguished by an unusual and complex relationship to community - both their immediate communities and the broader, more abstract notion of a national "black community." They have always played important roles as griots, or "rememberers," and throughout the century have consciously used art to create works of collective memory. However, unlike artists from other ethnic and racial minorities who practice their craft following strict cultural traditions, African-American artists (while displaying knowledge of tradition) have also been expected to distinguish themselves through innovation. African-American artists serve their community, are taught by the community, lead and often challenge their community.

Through the dramatic stories of talented African-American writers, poets, painters, sculptors, musicians, and dancers of the 20th century I'LL MAKE ME A WORLD will explore the complex force community has played in African-American art. What has been the role of the black artist in his or her community and within the larger society? What conflicts have emerged within the black community over how African Americans present themselves-on paper or canvas, through music or dance- to each other and to mainstream (white) audiences?

I'LL MAKE ME A WORLD will examine 20th-century African-American music, literature, visual arts, theater and dance in three nights of prime-time public television programming.

Evening One: Lift Every Voice 1900-1937
Begins at the turn of the century with the arts of the first generation of African Americans born to freedom and drives towards that most stunning period of creativity and expression, the Harlem Renaissance.

Evening Two: Stormy Weather 1935-1965
Examines the protest genres, mining of African roots and avant-garde styles emblematic of African-American arts from the decades of Depression-era, government-sponsored art programs through the years of Cold War politics that drive some artists into exile.

Evening Three: Re:Creation 1964-the present
From the Black Arts Movement declared in response to the call for Black Power to the century's end, we look at African-American artists who continue to redefine and revolutionize not only African-American culture, but American culture.