The Black fives : the epic story of basketball's forgotten era

Resource Information

The work The Black fives : the epic story of basketball's forgotten era represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Yuma County Library District. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

The Black fives : the epic story of basketball's forgotten era

Title remainder

the epic story of basketball's forgotten era

Statement of responsibility

Claude Johnson

Title variation

• Black 5s
• Epic story of basketball's forgotten era

Creator

• Johnson, Claude, 1960-

Author

• Johnson, Claude, 1960-

Subject

• Basketball -- United States -- History -- 19th century
• African American athletes -- History
• Basketball teams -- United States -- History -- 20th century
• Basketball -- United States -- History -- 20th century
• African American basketball players -- History

Language

eng

Summary

"African Americans were making moves in basketball generations before the rise of the NBA. Their pioneering efforts helped popularize the sport in big cities and small towns alike and shaped the game we know and love today. From the invention of the game in 1891 to the racial integration of all-White professional leagues int he 1950s, dozens of teams -- then often called "fives" -- of African American players were founded and flourished. This was a time of visionary players, managers, and impresarios who blazed a trail, battled discrimination and marginalization, and created rich, meaningful events that strengthened their communities in the face of Jim Crow oppression. But this era, known as the Black Fives Era, has been forgotten, overlooked, unacknowledged, and squashed. It is barely known today. For more than two decades, Claude Johnson has made it his mission to change that. A fiercely committed advocate, Johnson has researched, preserved, exhibited, taught, and honored this important African American experience, unearthing what might have remained buried in an unmarked grave. [This book] is the result of his work, a landmark narrative history that braids together the stories of these pioneers and rewrites our understanding of the true history of the game." -- Book jacket flap

Dewey number

796.323097309041

Illustrations

• illustrations
• plates

Index

no index present

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography