We’re proud to announce that New York University junior point guard and political science major Carnegie Johnson has signed a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) partnership with the Black Fives organization. Johnson currently leads NYU in points, assists, steals, field goals, and free throws made. As team captain, he has emerged as one of the… Read more »
Blog
Letter from the Founder:
As I reflect on 2025, I am proud to share that this year marked a period of institutional consolidation, external validation, and strategic positioning for the Black Fives Foundation.
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!
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 »
Announcement on International Women’s Day During Women’s History Month FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WASHINGTON, DC – March 8, 2025 – In honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, Black Fives, the Washington, D.C.-based sports merchandise brand dedicated to honoring the history of African Americans in basketball prior 1950 when the NBA signed its first Black… Read more »
Event looked back at retro collaboration to coincide with the museum’s current vintage poster exhibition, “Just Frame It: How Nike Turned Sports Stars into Superheroes“ The renowned Poster House museum in New York City held a special event that featured Claude Johnson discussing his iconic 2003 sneaker collaboration with NIKE. The award-winning author, historian, and… 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 »
Join Us On This Journey: You’ll see from our 2024 updates below that we’ve come a long way even just in the last few months, and unquestionably since organizing as a nonprofit in 2013. The fact that we are in a position to even conceive of the initiatives listed below, is incredible. We could not… Read more »
The City of New York Manhattan Community Board 10 In Central Harlem Unanimously Passed A Resolution Supporting Sidewalk Commemoration Plans To Honor The Legendary New York Rens Basketball Team “We are very pleased with the unanimous support of Community Board 10 for this project to honor the legendary New York Rens, and we look forward… 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 »
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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