For the NBA All Star Weekend, WPIX 11 produced ‘One-on-One: A Historic Look at the Journey of African American Basketball in NYC,’ which includes a look at Black Fives Era achievers who paved the way for today’s superstars.
WATCH: WPIX 11 News Series Covers Black Fives Era for All Star Weekend
Please meet the Younger Set Girls, an African American women’s basketball team that was formed in New York City in 1912.
MSG Network’s new PSA for Black History Month honors Black Fives Era pioneers and stars Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run DMC.
The Black Fives Foundation teams up with the Brooklyn Nets to conduct a series of school educational presentations on local African American basketball history.
A 1947 visit to Cuba by the Harlem Globe Trotters pro barnstorming basketball team gives a glimpse into the past as well as into the future.
Today is #GivingTuesday and we’re sharing some exceptional programs and goals planned for 2015! But they can’t happen without your help. Please give today. Thank you.
On November 13, 1907, the first game between two fully independent, formally organized African American basketball teams was played in Brooklyn, New York.
Today is the birth date of former pro basketball great John “Boy Wonder” Isaacs, born in 1915, who would have been 99 years old.
Did you know that there were many non-playing pioneers of the Black Fives Era who made important contributions to the growth and evolution of basketball among African Americans?
A while ago we wrote a letter to President Barack Obama inviting him for a personal tour of the Black Fives exhibit at the New-York Historical Society.
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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