The Origins of Black Basketball
Be Woke Presents Black History in Two Minutes (or so)
Bill Russell; Michael Jordan; LeBron James. Black athletes have at times been synonymous with the sport of basketball, but it wasn’t always that way.
Invented at the turn of the 20th century, basketball was initially played in segregated leagues — that is, until the exceptional talent and contributions of a few standout Black teams, including the New York Renaissance, became impossible for the newly formed NBA to ignore.
In this episode of Black History in Two Minutes (or so) hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. — with additional commentary from author and filmmaker Nelson George and author and historian Claude Johnson — we explore the origins of Black basketball, including a heated championship match-up that helped shift the trajectory of the sport.
Black History in Two Minutes (or so) is a 2x Webby Award winning series.
If you haven’t already, please review us on Apple Podcasts! It’s a helpful way to for new listeners to discover what we are doing here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/black-history-in-two-minutes/id1466867032
Archival Materials Courtesy of:
• Alamy Images
• Library of Congress
• National Archives and Records Administration
• Getty Images
• The New York Public Library
• New York Tribune
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Robert Smith
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Dyllan McGee
Deon Taylor
Roxanne Taylor
SERIES PRODUCER
Kelsi Lindus
PRODUCERS
Chelsea Adewunmi
Oluwaseun Babalola
Kevin Burke
Megan Graham
Vashni Korin
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Robert L. Yacyshyn
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Ashley Thomas
POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
Veronica Leib
POST PRODUCTION MANAGER
Katherine Swiatek
WRITTEN BY
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
ORIGINAL MUSIC COMPOSED BY
Matthew Head
ADDITIONAL WRITING
Kevin Burke
SERIES EDITOR
Reena Mangubat
EDITORS
Cierra Pacheco
Liza Renzulli
Anne Yao
ASSISTANT EDITORS
Ben Pakman
Patrice Bowman
Imani Dean
SUPERVISING PRODUCERS
Will Ventura
Sara Wolitzky
ARCHIVAL PRODUCERS
Megan Graham
Jade Edwards-Lovell
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Seng Chen
Gregory Brutus
Nausheen Dadabhoy