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?
Episode 3: The Four Freedoms Ticket of 1941
This week’s artifact is a special book by a beloved athlete, activist, and scholar. (Hint: There’s a stadium named after him.)
Do you use eBay? If so then please “favorite” the Black Fives Foundation! eBay matches fav charities with buyers and sellers who wish to donate a portion of their sales!
Fare thee well, 2015. Looking back we raise toasts to the greatest wins as well as to the toughest losses of the year.
We rank the Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2016 nominees for the special direct-elect Early African American Pioneers Committee in order most deserving, with a poll.
Donate $25 or more and get a special limited edition pennant by ’47 to celebrate the enshrinement of John “Boy Wonder” Isaacs into the Basketball Hall of Fame!
In its first enshrinement class, the newly created Franklin (Indiana) High School Alumni Hall of Fame will induct basketball pioneer George Crowe tomorrow.
The premium sports lifestyle brand known as ’47 teams up with the Black Fives Foundation for a new genre of apparel combining fashion with history.
Images from some of our recent school visits, where we are presenting the local history of the Black Fives Era of basketball in partnership with the Brooklyn Nets as a part of their Nets Assist educational programming.
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.
4,301
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.![]()
![]()
Something deeper than what’s visible on the surface.![]()
![]()
This piece, created by the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective from remnants of our Black Fives throwback jerseys, carries that idea.![]()
![]()
On the front, you see something beautiful.![]()
On the back, you see the work.![]()
![]()
Tens of thousands of stitches.![]()
Each one holding the whole together.![]()
![]()
Like the earlier African American basketball pioneers whose names were forgotten, but whose work helped shape the game.![]()
![]()
Like the countless people, often unseen, who did and are doing the work that holds our country together.![]()
![]()
The surface only exists because of what’s behind it.![]()
![]()
And it’s only as strong as the weakest stitch.![]()
![]()
Do we really want to remove certain stitches?![]()
Are we OK with pieces falling apart?![]()
![]()
Do we value the work we don’t see?![]()
Do we recognize it?![]()
Do we protect it?![]()
![]()
That’s the real story.![]()
![]()
A cultural archive. A sports heritage platform.![]()
Build with us.![]()
![]()
Make History Now.![]()
![]()
#culturalheritage ![]()
#intellectualproperty ![]()
#archives ![]()
#sportsbusiness ![]()
#blackhistory
For years, we have been building something truly remarkable.![]()
![]()
A deep archive of early African American basketball.![]()
![]()
The stories, the images, the history that shaped the game.![]()
![]()
But this is more than an archive.![]()
![]()
It’s a cultural IP and sports heritage platform.![]()
![]()
Infrastructure of history, identity, and assets ready to build with.![]()
![]()
For partners, institutions, and brands who want real cultural authenticity, not just performative optics.![]()
![]()
Build with us.![]()
![]()
blackfives.org/build![]()
![]()
#blackhistory #culturalheritage #brandpartnerships #archives #intellectualproperty