Breaking down the century-long connection between basketball and music.
SPIN Magazine Mentions Harlem Rens, Basketball-Music Connection
In 1916 the price for a room at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City was $2.00 to $3.00 per night. How did that compare to the average wages of Negroes back then?
In 1904, Edwin B. Henderson attended Harvard University’s Summer School of Arts and Sciences to learn the game of basketball. The rest is history.
On May 30, 1906, the Inter-Scholastic Athletic Association of Middle Atlantic States (I.S.A.A.) took root with its first event, a track meet, at Howard University.
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.
In April, 1912 the Twelfth Street Colored Y.M.C.A. of Washington, D.C. opened. Here’s some more about this landmark building in Part II of a series.
One of the most beautiful vintage gymnasiums on the planet is at the old Twelfth Street Colored Y.M.C.A. in Washington, D.C.
In 1943 the Washington Bears, an all-black basketball team, went 41-0 while winning the World Professional Basketball Tournament, the nation’s highest basketball title.
In 1920, Chris Huiswoud became the first basketball referee of African descent to be formally sanctioned (allowed) by the AAU.
I did this interview and put it in the vault (Summer ’07) but it’s worth dusting off … [display_podcast] This is a thorough interview on a popular daily lunch time radio show called “The Beat” with Mike Wesson. It has a little bit on how Black Fives was created, and some more on how Washington,… 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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#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