Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, a former star athlete at Syracuse, spectacular pro hoops player with the New York Rens and Washington Bears, and former Tuskegee Airman, died in a plane crash while on an Army training mission in 1941.
More On Forgotten Black Fives Era Phenom Sidat-Singh
When 93-year-old James Henderson ran into soon-to-be 93-year-old John Isaacs last Friday in Falls Church, Virginia, the trash talking began instantly.
William “Dolly” King, the 6-foot 4-inch, 220-lb. star center and captain of the undefeated LIU Blackbirds, left his team mid-season to join the all-black New York Rens.
In 1920, Chris Huiswoud became the first basketball referee of African descent to be formally sanctioned (allowed) by the AAU.
Monticello Athletic Association’s black national basketball championship in 1912 paved the way for other African American teams, by showing that determined teams from any city could win.
In 1974, when Grandpa was inducted into the Black Athletes Hall of Fame in New York, in it’s inaugural class alongside the likes of Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Joe Louis, and Bill Russell, I was so proud beyond compare.
James “Big Jim” Dorsey, a tall 15-year-old African American janitor from the North Side section of Pittsburgh, single-handedly influenced black basketball in the early 1900s.
Recently, Converse and Black Fives staged a vintage basketball cage game re-enactment — a game between the New York (Harlem) Rens and the Washington (DC) 12 Streeters played inside a wire mesh cage. These are some of the highlights presented in a slide show: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILCKoSmOCkQ The game was played according to vintage Black Fives Era… Read more »
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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 ![]()
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#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