1999

Lauryn Hill won five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, becoming the first hip-hop artist to win Album of the Year. The achievement remains a landmark for both hip-hop and Black women in music, and the album is consistently ranked among the greatest of all time.

Johnson ran 43.18 seconds in Seville, breaking his own world record and cementing his status as the greatest 400m runner in history alongside his 1996 Olympic double gold in Atlanta.

Mos Def's debut solo album was hailed as a masterpiece of conscious hip-hop, blending jazz, funk, and political commentary and establishing the Brooklyn MC as one of rap's most literate voices.

Lil Wayne's debut, released on Cash Money Records when he was 17, debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and went platinum, signaling the rise of Cash Money as a dominant force in Southern rap.

British-born, Black Canadian and British Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, the first undisputed champion since Mike Tyson in 1987. Lewis retired as the lineal heavyweight champion in 2004, widely regarded as the last great heavyweight champion of the twentieth century.

Jay-Z's fourth album debuted at number 1 and sold over 1.4 million copies in its first week, cementing his status as hip-hop's dominant commercial force entering the new millennium.

Whitehead's debut novel — an allegory about race and progress set in an alternate-history city — announced the arrival of a major literary talent and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award.

McNabb's selection — over the protests of some Eagles fans who booed the pick at Radio City Music Hall — produced one of the most successful Black quarterback careers of the era, leading Philadelphia to four consecutive NFC Championship Games.

Famuyiwa's coming-of-age film set in Inglewood, California, starring Omar Epps and Taye Diggs, received strong reviews for its authentic portrayal of Black middle-class suburban life.

Williams wins the US Open, beginning a career as one of the greatest athletes in history.