Karyn Parsons believes there are many Americans who have a story to share, and she's finding ways to tell those stories through lively animation.

On Jan. 20, Parsons, 49, came to Friends Academy to share her work at Sweet Blackberry, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing children the stories of little-known African-Americans, those who she considers “the unsung heroes” of history.

Parsons is best known for her role as the snobbish Hilary Banks in the hit sitcom, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," which aired in the '90s. Nowadays, Parsons, a mother of two, has shifted gears to focus more on Sweet Blackberry.

The daughter of a retired librarian, Parsons’ mother instilled in her an interest and respect for black figures throughout history. One such person was Henry “Box” Brown, a slave who literally mailed himself to freedom in the 1840s by shipping himself from Virginia to Philadelphia in a crate. Brown’s experience resonated with Parsons and she would often contemplate how to disseminate his story.

It wasn’t until Parsons put acting on hold and became a mother that the opportunity presented itself. Driven by a desire to give her daughter a sense of cultural identity, Parsons teamed up with illustrator R. Gregory Christie, and, in 2005, Sweet Blackberry’s first film was created.

“I understand why Black History Month began, and I understand the importance of it. But what happens after a while, unfortunately, is people get lazy. They say, ‘Oh, save that story for Black History Month,’” Parsons said.

“It kind of perpetuates the idea that every now and then, a special black person comes along and does something, and that’s not the story we’re trying to tell. [Black history and American history] become separate, as opposed to being integrated. These are American stories, they’re not black stories,” she said.

Initially a for-profit organization, Sweet Blackberry’s launch was kicked off by “The Journey of Henry ‘Box’ Brown,” a 10-minute animated production narrated by Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actress Alfre Woodard.

It wasn’t long before there was a demand for more films. The organization converted to a non-profit to better reach families and students who wanted to see the films.

“Ideally, we’d like to show [children that] these are American stories – they belong to all of us,” Parsons said. “Everyone should know about these stories. And black people are very much the fabric of the country as well and helped build the country and make great contributions.”

The stories were initially targeted at kids ages four to seven. To resonate with a younger audience, Parsons and her team adapted the stories to include talking animals and other fairy tale elements. These additions helped make the stories more palatable for children without erasing the presence of racism and slavery in American history.

Sweet Blackberry’s second film, “Garrett’s Gift,” was narrated by Queen Latifah. The film follows the story of inventor Garrett Morgan, who created the traffic light.

The most recent Sweet Blackberry tale is “Dancing in the Light: The Janet Collins Story,” which follows Janet Collins on her journey to becoming the first African-American prima ballerina. The film followed Collins through her acceptance into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Her victory was short-lived when she was asked to wear whiteface. Collins ultimately rejected the offer. However, she later became the first African-American ballerina to perform at the Metropolitan Opera.

“All children can see that obstacles are actually great opportunities to do great things,” Parsons said.

Because finding adequate funding is difficult, there’s often a lull between projects and finished scripts can often sit unused for a while, Parsons said.

“Dancing In the Light” was Sweet Blackberry’s first film to be funded by Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website. For 30 days, people can provide donations to a campaign in exchange for tiered rewards.

To encourage donations, Parsons recruited the help of her “Fresh Prince” family. From incentives like a shopping trip with Parsons and her on-screen sister, Tatyana Ali, to a screening of “Fresh Prince” episodes with the cast members in Bel-Air, 877 backers came together to raise $77,406.

The entire production came together in about six months, with the script being written in just two weeks.

Parsons is currently working to bring the story of Bessie Coleman, the first female African-American aviator, to life. She hopes to include more contemporary figures as well.

“I don’t want it to just be history. I want to bring people into the mix who are doing things now,” Parsons said. “The problem with a lot of these other stories is they risk being forgotten. Like Janet Collins. I found out about Janet Collins when I read her obituary.”

Friends Academy’s classes were each treated to a lesson from Parsons as well as a screening of one of the Sweet Blackberry films. Middle schoolers viewed “Dancing In the Light.” To the delight of many students, the film was narrated by Chris Rock.

“That came from reaching out to him – on Facebook,” Parsons said, laughing.

Parsons fielded questions from students and staff, ranging from how the productions come together to which celebrities she’d met, as well as if she keeps in touch with her “Fresh Prince” family, which she does.

“I think if young children can see [history] early, it changes the whole landscape of race for them because they recognize their values and their neighbors' values,” said Parsons. “They have a whole different outlook.”

Visit sweetblackberry.org to learn more about Sweet Blackberry. Sweet Blackberry films are also available on Netflix.