The Basketball Hall of Fame has elected Black Fives Era pioneer Zack Clayton for enshrinement in its Class of 2017!
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We’re proud to collaborate with the Atlanta Hawks for their awesome Black History Month celebration featuring Black Fives Era basketball history!
We are thankful for a generous gift that allowed us to acquire a collection of rare early African American artifacts for our Black Fives Foundation Archives.
12-year-old junior reporter and student athlete Carnegie Johnson chats with hoops superstar Carmelo Anthony, with history from the Black Fives Era!
12-year-old junior reporter and student athlete Carnegie Johnson chats with hoops superstar Sheryl Swoopes, adding history from the Black Fives Era!
12-year-old junior reporter Carnegie Johnson chats with Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, adding history from the Black Fives 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.
Through a generous donor gift we recently acquired a major historical African American basketball artifact for the Black Fives Foundation Archives! Take a look!
Our new logo for the Black Fives Foundation Archives, to give them their own identity and their own focus within the overall mission of the organization.
This historic 1941 basketball ticket that celebrates FDR’s birthday and raises funds to prevent Infantile Paralysis represents a major milestone in the sport.
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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