This feature length review of the Black Fives Exhibition at the New-York Historical Society appears in the Wall Street Journal, on the front page of its “Greater New York” section!
Wall Street Journal: Exhibit Uncovers the ‘Negro Leagues’ of Basketball
At the March 2014 unveiling of the Earl Lloyd statue at West Virginia State University in Charleston, West Virginia.
Michael Bellamy hosts BK Live on Brooklyn Independent Media with guest Claude Johnson of the Black Fives Foundation
Michael C. King, the son of William “Dolly” King, describes some family artifacts and the stories surrounding them.
One is a media pass to a history-making event. The other was an “errant” pass that may have changed history.
NBA pioneer and Hall of Fame member Earl Lloyd (left) with Claude Johnson, Founder & Executive Director of the Black Fives Foundation, at the Smithsonian Institution in 2011.
Duquesne honors Chuck Cooper, among first blacks in NBA, by staging inaugural Chuck Cooper Classic, a hoops doubleheader featuring HBCU teams. How cool is that?
The NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996. The problem is that it didn’t exist until 1950 when the BAA merged with the NBL. This new book clears that up.
April birthdays related to the Black Fives Era of basketball include Don Barksdale, Bill Yancey, John McLendon, Paul Robeson, and Charles Scottron.
The fact that some of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2009 finalists are black does not stir up any controversy whatsoever. But that wasn’t always the case.
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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