Recently, I got this correspondence from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (A.T.F.).
New Info On Black Fives Era Pioneer Major A. Hart: ATF Hero
An early Sunday morning bicycle ride through Harlem leads to sacredness, grace, astonishment, acknowledgment, gratitude, and smiles.
In 1961, during a summer job in Vienna, Austria, my father took pivotal advice from Father Theodore Hesburgh, now President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame.
All-black military basketball teams go as far back as racial segregation in the Armed Services. One such team played in the early 1910s: the 10th Cavalry “Buffalo Soldiers” Five, from Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont.
In 1939, Indiana high school basketball star George Crowe was involved in a race-related controversy — not his own doing — that received widespread newspaper coverage at the time but has been lost in history since, buried so deeply that even Crowe himself, today, can’t recall there was ever any fuss. But there was. And it revealed the ahead-of-its-time greatness of Indiana.
Two former New York Renaissance (“Rens”) players entered the boxing ring as referees after their basketball careers ended. Frank Forbes and Zach Clayton both refereed bouts involving Cassius Clay (and Muhammad Ali).
Have you ever wondered why the basket is 10 feet above the floor of a basketball court?
The newly renovated Park Slope Armory (a.k.a. 14th Regiment Armory) in Brooklyn is so magnificent that people wanted to see more historical images of the old spot.
The site of the former home of Smart Set Athletic Club founding father Edwin F. Horne, grandfather of Lena Horne, is now a playground in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn.
The historic 14th Regiment Armory in Brooklyn: photographs of the interior of the drill hall.
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Black Fives
We inspire excellence in youth and communities by preserving, teaching, and honoring the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball.
For years, we have been building something truly remarkable.![]()
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Something deeper than what’s visible on the surface.![]()
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This piece, created by the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective from remnants of our Black Fives throwback jerseys, carries that idea.![]()
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On the front, you see something beautiful.![]()
On the back, you see the work.![]()
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Tens of thousands of stitches.![]()
Each one holding the whole together.![]()
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Like the earlier African American basketball pioneers whose names were forgotten, but whose work helped shape the game.![]()
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Like the countless people, often unseen, who did and are doing the work that holds our country together.![]()
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The surface only exists because of what’s behind it.![]()
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And it’s only as strong as the weakest stitch.![]()
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Do we really want to remove certain stitches?![]()
Are we OK with pieces falling apart?![]()
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Do we value the work we don’t see?![]()
Do we recognize it?![]()
Do we protect it?![]()
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That’s the real story.![]()
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A cultural archive. A sports heritage platform.![]()
Build with us.![]()
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Make History Now.![]()
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#culturalheritage ![]()
#intellectualproperty ![]()
#archives ![]()
#sportsbusiness ![]()
#blackhistory
For years, we have been building something truly remarkable.![]()
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A deep archive of early African American basketball.![]()
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The stories, the images, the history that shaped the game.![]()
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But this is more than an archive.![]()
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It’s a cultural IP and sports heritage platform.![]()
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Infrastructure of history, identity, and assets ready to build with.![]()
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For partners, institutions, and brands who want real cultural authenticity, not just performative optics.![]()
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Build with us.![]()
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blackfives.org/build![]()
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#blackhistory #culturalheritage #brandpartnerships #archives #intellectualproperty