PUMA Kicks Off Black History Month Celebration With Black Fives x PUMA

Global sports company PUMA is celebrating Black History Month by highlighting the work of Black leaders,

partners, and community organizations that continue to inspire and shape the future for generations to come.

Throughout the month, PUMA will stand alongside athletes, ambassadors, and partners by amplifying their
voices and actions across various platforms in support of universal equality, justice, and acceptance for
all.

To kick off the month, PUMA announced a multi-year partnership with Black Fives Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, whose mission since 2002 is to research, preserve, showcase, teach and honor the pre- NBA history of African Americans in basketball.

The partnership will raise awareness about this vital history and its pioneering players, teams, and contributors through initiatives that make a difference, as well as feature special apparel and footwear collections with popular PUMA styles including vintage graphics and logos maintained by the Foundation’s trademarked slogan, “Make History Now.” “We are proud and honored to partner with PUMA toward making a meaningful, long-term difference in expanding black history education to amplify and include awareness of the important pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball,” said Founder and Executive Director of the Black Fives Foundation Claude Johnson.

PUMA, together with the Black Fives Foundation, will help support the Foundation’s preservation and education efforts through creative activations that include an engaging, multi-use online museum to display its archive of historical artifacts and content from the Black Fives Era.

The Black Fives Foundation’s Virtual Vault, presented by PUMA, will be an online portal for visitors to see, learn, and be inspired by the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball through nearly 1,000 artifacts in the Foundation’s historical archive. Items include vintage equipment, ticket stubs, game gear, images, scorecards and more.

The Virtual Vault is set to launch later this year.

Also this month, PUMA will be giving back to the Harlem community with partner AfroBrutality, hosting
conversations with current and former athletes around activism in sport through their #REFORM
platform and more.

PUMA is one of the world’s leading Sports Brands, designing, developing, selling and marketing footwear, apparel and accessories.

For more than 70 years, PUMA has relentlessly pushed sport and culture forward by creating fast products for the world’s fastest athletes.

PUMA offers performance and sport-inspired lifestyle products in categories such as Football, Running and Training, Basketball, Golf, and Motorsports. It collaborates with renowned designers and brands to bring sport influences into street culture and fashion.

The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Cobra Golf, and stitched. The company distributes its products in more than 120 countries, employs more than 16,000 people worldwide, and is headquartered in Herzogenaurach/Germany. www.puma.com

The Greenwich, CT-based Black Fives Foundation is a 501(c)3 public charity whose mission is to research, preserve, showcase, teach, and honor the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball, a period known as the Black Fives Era that lasted from the early 1900s to 1950, when the NBA signed its first Black players.

The organization advocates expanding Black history education to amplify and include this important history, utilizing nearly 1,000 related artifacts in its historical archive as well as a portfolio of related intellectual property and other difference-making initiatives.

For more information, please visit partners.blackfives.org/hello-puma.

Photo credit: Puma.