A groundbreaking, timely history of the largely unknown early days of Black basketball, bringing to life the trailblazing players, teams, and impresarios who made the game.
The Black Fives: The Epic Story of Basketball’s Forgotten Era
The first episode of our new Make History Now podcast is dedicated to basketball pioneer Earl Lloyd, the first African American to play in the NBA.
This week’s artifact is literally one of the building blocks of America’s basketball history as well as the Harlem Renaissance Period. #makehistorynow
This week’s artifact is a special book by a beloved athlete, activist, and scholar. (Hint: There’s a stadium named after him.)
Claude Johnson will present “The Crucial Role of Ephemera in Tracing Black Basketball History” at the Ephemera Society of America’s 35th Annual Conference, March 20 in Greenwich, CT.
Michael Bellamy hosts BK Live on Brooklyn Independent Media with guest Claude Johnson of the Black Fives Foundation
Claude Johnson’s new book is available for free as an ebook, courtesy of BlackFives.org. Here’s how to get your free copy now.
I was in Manhattan last week for Converse’s celebration of the 35th anniversary of Rick Telander’s playground basketball classic, Heaven is a Playground.
The NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996. The problem is that it didn’t exist until 1950 when the BAA merged with the NBL. This new book clears that up.
I recently visited the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. to check out a new exhibit there called The Scurlock Studio And Black Washington: Picturing The Promise.