Introducing our first guest artist collab: the evocative architectural façade illustrations of Olivia Callender meet the history of the Black Fives Era in our new “Home Court Collection” for Holiday 2025!
Our New “Home Courts” Collection Features Guest Artist Olivia Callender
Celebrate The Three All-Black Squads That Won The World’s Pro Basketball Championship Title, In 1939, 1940, and 1943 Our new Spring 2025 Collection celebrates the three African American teams that won the World’s Pro Basketball Championship, played from 1939 to 1948. The World’s Pro Basketball Championship took place in Chicago from 1939 to 1948. During… Read more »
NEW YORK – For the fourth consecutive season, the BIG EAST Conference will partner with the Black Fives Foundation, a nonprofit public charity dedicated to inspiring excellence in youth by preserving, teaching, and honoring the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball. This year’s theme, “Pioneers of Change,” will shine a spotlight on the early African American trailblazers who revolutionized the game and… Read more »
We recently acquired this very rare original photograph of Long Island University‘s epic 1939-40 basketball team. A remarkable artifact, it is autographed by all but one of the players on the Blackbirds squad that season, as well as by head coach Clair Bee. And it includes trailblazing African American basketball star William “Dolly” King, known… Read more »
PRESS RELEASE BLACK FIVES NONPROFIT ANNOUNCES HARLEM COURT REPAINTING PROJECT TO HONOR 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC NEW YORK RENS BASKETBALL TEAM, ON LOCATION AT SELECTED SITE Working With Manhattan Borough President’s Office and NYC Parks In Partnership With SLAM Media And Project Backboard, The Public Outdoor Court At Howard Bennett Playground On West 135th Street Has… Read more »
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.
We’re very excited about re-introducing our own original retro-inspired private label, Physical Culture Supply Co.
How does a ticket to a 1941 basketball doubleheader link Ohio, the tire industry, burgers, the Star of David, Harlem, FDR, Nike, the UN, and Norman Rockwell?
12-year-old reporter Carnegie Johnson encounters superstar point guard and Basketball Hall of Fame member Allen Iverson, who is reminiscent of Black Fives Era pioneer Zach Clayton!
We’re proud to collaborate with the Atlanta Hawks for their awesome Black History Month celebration featuring Black Fives Era basketball history!
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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