Stonehill College will host Claude Johnson, founder and president of Black Fives, Inc., for a free public presentation and discussion on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.

This is a tough one.

And I’m not going to make it any easier by defining what “black” means. You decide. Is it a color?  A skill?  An attitude? A Read the rest of this entry »

This one was interesting because many people of one race (or another) completely agreed with me, while others of the same race completely disagreed. And so on.

I’ve long believed there’s no such thing as racism. Don’t get me wrong. “Race” exists. Culture exists. Ethnicity exists. But, are we focusing so much on racism that we’re forgetting about addressing its causes? I think racism Read the rest of this entry »

I hear people, particularly black people, making comments along the lines of this one: People see what they want to see in order to justify their “ugly truth;” they just can’t imagine electing a black man, qualified or not, to the office of President of the United States.

CNN’s “Black In America” special is tired, tedious, and out of date.

It’s what you expect from CNN: negative, fear-based, dumbed-down sensationalism. It’s a boring, depressing, uninspiring drag. CNN started out on Read the rest of this entry »

In 1904, Edwin B. Henderson showed up at Harvard University’s Summer School of Arts and Sciences to learn how to be a gym teacher.

The courses Read the rest of this entry »

Basketball was in Boston long before the Celtics.

The roots of the sport (especially among black folks) trace back to the Hemenway Gymnasium on the campus of Harvard University, and a guy named Dudley Allen Sargent. I’d known about it but never seen the Hemenway Gym until I stumbled upon it this week while driving by on the way to Boston Garden. I couldn’t resist going inside to look around.  It’s a modernized 4-story structure inside a vintage shell. “Is this the old Hemenway Gymnasium?,” I asked. “Yes, but they’ve renovated it and there’s nothing left,” said the staffer. “But, isn’t there anything historical remaining?,” I asked. “Well, the only thing left is the original basketball court,” she said, apologetically. “Oh, really?,” I asked. “Can I see it?” Isn’t persistence great? Sargent was one of the earliest advocates of of the link between “bodily vigor” (that is, athletic competition) and Christian virtues. In the mid-1800s this was known as ‘Muscular Christianity.’ It was a forerunner of the physical fitness movement. Sargent’s way of thinking:

Some of the specific mental and physical qualities which are developed by athletics are increased powers of attention, will, concentration, accuracy, alertness, quickness of perception, perseverance, reason, judgment, forbearance, patience, obedience, self-control, loyalty to leaders, self-denial, submergence of self, grace, poise, suppleness, courage, strength and endurance. These qualities are as valuable to women as to men.

Seems like he was Read the rest of this entry »

These are “taboo” topics I’ve covered so far in this basketball history related blog: race, politics, sex, religion, war, mentality, and money. Conventional wisdom said “don’t do it” since after all, this isn’t The Assimilated Negro, Huffington Post, BlogXilla, Dissident Voice, Gawker, or other great blogs that push the envelope in these areas one way or another. But I couldn’t resist. So here’s the Black Fives Blog’s own Top Taboo Topics List: Race

Time Out For A Moment Every once in

Read the rest of this entry »