Photo: Black Fives Instagram/Claude Johnson
As we celebrate Black History Month, beautiful stories of family, grit, struggle, perseverance and success surface. Such is the case of Claude Johnson, Founder & Executive Director of The Black Fives Foundation, a 501(c)3 public charity whose mission is to research, preserve, showcase, and teach the pre-NBA history of African-American basketball while honoring its pioneers and their descendants. The Black Fives Foundation Archives contain the world’s leading collection of historical artifacts from that period, known as the Black Fives Era. The Black Fives Foundation recently teamed up with the global sports company PUMA for a long term partnership in support of Black history education reform.
To cement the partnership, Johnson used his late grandmother’s fountain pen to sign the documents, sharing the wonderful history of his family and why he chose to sign the documents using her pen. Watch Black history in motion below:
Learn more about the Black Fives era of basketball and the Black Fives Foundation at BlackFives.org.
Follow The Black Fives Foundation on Twitter @BlackFives.
The post was written and curated by Nsenga K. Burton, founder & editor-in-chief of The Burton Wire. Follow Nsenga on Twitter @Ntellectual. Follow The Burton Wire on Twitter or Instagram @TheBurtonWire.
