You ever wait forever for that one phone call? When it comes, its worth celebrating. Besides, I like to share my progress as things develop on the Black Fives Brand Map, kinda like with a Polaroid picture … I just keep shakin’ it ’til it becomes more and more clear. So here are a couple [...]
You ever wait forever for that one phone call?
When it comes, its worth celebrating.
Besides, I like to share my progress as things develop on the Black Fives Brand Map, kinda like with a Polaroid picture … I just keep shakin’ it ’til it becomes more and more clear.
So here are a couple of calls to celebrate from this week:
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The editor in chief of SLAM Magazine called me to ask if I could write an article for them! Yes! It’s going to appear in a section that is a special tribute to Converse for that company’s 100th anniversary, in the February issue. There was a time when I couldn’t pay SLAM to publish something — anything — about the Black Fives Era. But does a brother give up? NO!
Got a call from Nike to ask if we could discuss ways to incorporate Black Fives into their House of Hoops retail store in Harlem. Yes! They want to do a similar treatment as what they did there with Kobe recently. This is great because it could be a dress rehearsal for the museum exhibit I’m discussing with U.C.L.A.’s Bunche Center For Afro-American Studies. More on that coming up.
Converse called to ask if it would be O.K. for them to include some of their Black Fives products in the Eastbay catalog and on Eastbay’s website in their special “Vault” section. Yes!
Finally, I got a call from a guy named Kevin Norman. Who he? He’s the grandson of Conrad Norman, the founder of the Alpha Physical Culture Club and the New York Girls. He wanted to know if he could “join” the “Sons and Daughters of the Black Fives Era“. Yes! It was like finding a long lost relative! Kevin’s grandfather played basketball against Edwin Henderson II‘s grandfather! Think about that for a second. I’m gonna hook them up with each other. How great is that? That’s what this is all about! I’m going to interview Kevin for the Black Fives Blog, of course, and spotlight the major contributions of his grandpa. If you wanna talk about creating something from nothing, just look at the Alpha organization and what they accomplished. The significance of this call is profound, because you’ve heard me talking about creating something like an annual Black Fives Era Family Reunion, an event for the descendants of the Black Fives Era. I’ve labeled it the Sons and Daughters in the past but doesn’t it make more sense to keep this group open to anyone whose ancestors had anything to do with the period, not just by blood?
Thank you for allowing me to share these important calls that came in!
Meanwhile, for whatever we do let’s all … keep shakin’ it!
“I waited and waited for the phone to ring and when no one called I knew it was you.”
I am enthusiastic about possibly hooking up with Conrad Norman’s Grandson and others of the Black Fives era. . Both of our grandfathers were pioneers that should be enshrined into the Basketball hall of fame. I mentioned that a couple of summers ago at the Afro-Ethnic Hall of Fame enshrinement at the AlHambra Ballroom in Harlem. How can you tell the story of the game of Basketball without including the likes of the Black pioneers of the Black Fives era?
I am having an event here in the Washington, DC Suburb of Falls Church, Virginia, and I want to invite both you (Claude) and Kevin to take part in this event. The Harlem MagicMasters are playing in a celebrity basketball game against local city officials and politicians here, as a Black History month program.
What do you say Claude? What are you doing on February 29th?
I am also thinking of another principle organizer in New York City, whose name can be mentioned in the same breath as Conrad Norman. The Hall should do like the Baseball hall of Fame did, when they brought in , in mass, the recognized contributors and players of the Negro Baseball League.
I think the reunion is great idea that might help to build momentum, and put pressure on the Basketball Hall of Fame.
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Holy Alexander Graham Bell Batman!!
Nike gets it (I was on campus in Portland last summer).
Congrats.
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I’ve been a fan of Nike for years (I narrowed my school choice by shoes…) but as I grow older it’s nice to hear that not only are they innovators in creating athletic apparel but they are also working towards education.
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Another name I feel should be honored is George Latimore, as a contributor enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Claude, do you have any contact with his relatives?
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Bijan, agreed that Nike does seem to get it, at least most of the time and way more than anyone else.
Roy, thanks for sharing that! I think they know that to remain on top they have to keep setting themselves apart in ways that really matter. Those ways obviously really mattered to you, for example.
Ed, thanks. George Lattimore (of the Smart Set Athletic Club in Brooklyn) did indeed make major contributions but so did his brother Robert, and so did Edwin Horne, Sr. (Lena Horne’s grandpa) but their impact was mostly on their own team and wasn’t as profound or as wide as those in my Most Deserving list so I disagree with you regarding the Hall of Fame although he certainly could be honored in some way. Speaking of Nike, their inclusion of the Smart Set in their Black Fives program is an honor of sorts but that’s only a start, of course.
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