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Forbes
03-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Adidas Understood The Assignment: How The Sports Brand Is Honoring Black Excellence
adidas 2025 HBE honoree Gee's Bend Quilters, Jaycina Almond and Sekou Thornell The city of Atlanta has long been the "Mecca" of Black American enterprise and culture. Major corporations across various industries, such as The Coca-Cola Company and Delta Air Lines, call the city home and invest millions into the local culture and economy. Adidas and creative visionaries Rog & Bee Walker of Paper Monday brought together Black cultural leaders, artists, athletes, and community voices for Honoring Black Excellence (HBE): An Experience Curated by Rog & Bee Walker—a bold and immersive capstone activation at Guardian Works. This immersive event is more than just a fleeting corporate marketing campaign for the global sportswear giant; it is an investment into Black voices, community, and historical reverence. Walking into the Guardian, attendees immediately notice Rog & Bee Walker's intent to transform the space into a living narrative. Combining the aesthetics of a gallery with audiovisual, live performances and archival elements. The journey began with a short film shown in an intimate white room, bringing complete focus and attention to the powerful stories of the HBE honorees. From there, attendees naturally flowed into an open-concept space where small interactive installations representing the story of each honoree could be seen and experienced. Launched in 2019, the HBE initiative has transformed from a one-time event to adidas's dedicated platform to celebrate Black leaders who are shaping culture and driving change nationally. This year honors a trio of Black creatives that represent a new generation of entrepreneurs focused on community and 2025 HBE honoree Gee's Bend Quilters The Enduring Legacy of The Gee's Bend Quilters To fully comprehend the gravity of this moment, one must travel to the small community of Gee's Bend, Alabama also known as "Boykin". This isolated community nestled within a bend of the Alabama River, was established by enslaved people brought by the Gee family in the 19th century. Similar to the Geechee people of the Carolinas, the women of Gee's Bend are internationally known for their quilt-making. For generations, these women have transformed scraps of common fabrics into works of art. Initially a necessity for Black families post-slavery- these quilts became symbols of resilience, ingenuity, and abstract artistic masterpieces. Adidas's inclusion of The Gee's Bend Quilters in the HBE initiative acknowledges their artistic, historical, and economic impact. With this collaboration, adidas is introducing the Gee's Bend culture to new audiences worldwide. Proving that the intricate and abstract quilts of Gee's Bend aren't just a relic of the past but a tradition that is living in the present and inspiring the New Faces of Community-Driven Entrepreneurship: Jaycina Almond and Sekou Thornel adidas 2025 HBE honoree Jaycina Almond While Gee's Bend represents the deep-seated roots of Black culture Jaycina Almond and Sekou Thornell represent the growing branches of that Black culture tree. Almond, is a model who used her visibility and platform to launch The Tender Foundation, a non-profit that provides a safety net for single mothers in Atlanta. 39.8% of the city's households are headed by single mothers, who make only 52% of what single fathers earn. Jaycina is an example of how one individual can change the lives of those around her. She has actively changed her title from model to role model. adidas 2025 HBE honoree Sekou Thronell Thornell is making space in the sports world with Kitboys Club by challenging traditional narratives in the new and growing American soccer ethos. He's reimagining the aesthetics of the sport by weaving Atlanta's vibrant and unique urban culture into the very fabric of the sport. Kitboys Club is proving to represent more than just an athletics clothing line, but a blueprint on how to make soccer more accessible and culturally relevant to underrepresented faces of the game. Together Almond and Thornel represent the intersection of authenticity and innovation leading to their well-deserved of adidas 2025 HBE Capstone Rog & Bee Walker The Art of Authentic Storytelling Centering this celebration of Black excellence is Rog & Bee Walker. Adidas has entrusted this creative duo with bringing the legacy and impact of the three honorees to life. These multidisciplinary artists are notable for their ability to authentically capture the Black American experience in all of its many facets and complexities by blending visual production, web development, and creative storytelling. Using The HBE capstone event as a medium the Walkers have given a masterclass on authentic engagement and celebration. Trusting Rog & Bee shows that adidas is willing to go beyond the normal corporate playbook. It was obvious that the global brand wanted to craft an event that was more than just branding, but an experience grounded in connection, dialogue, and investments into the Black creative ecosystem. Generating €23.7 ($27.8) billion in sales in 2024, adidas's commitment to continuing The HBE capstone shows that the company understands its responsibility to not just provide a platform but to listen and put its money where it will have maximum impact. This year's Honoring Black Excellence experience in Atlanta was one to remember and more than a capstone event. It was the collision of past and present, the new and traditional and corporate and cultural interests.
Black America Web
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Black America Web
Recap: adidas 2025 HBE Capstone Experience In ATL
Yvette Glasco At a time when DEI programs built to promote inclusivity have experienced government-issued shutdowns, it makes the Honoring Black Excellence campaign by adidas feel all the more important. With The Three Stripes in a financial situation that doesn't require federal funding for a program like HBE, the sportswear stalwart is simply committing to a $20 million promise made back in 2020 in support of Black communities. Five years later, we can attest to the fact that adidas is definitely putting money to mouth. Many mouths, in fact. On Tuesday (June 24), we braved the Atlanta heat for a special one-night-only event known as the HBE Capstone Experience, curated in collaboration with Paper Monday creative married duo Rog & Bee Walker. This year's honorees include Sekou Thornell of Kitboys Club, Jaycina Almond who we remember from The Tender Foundation and the soulfully Southern belles of Gee's Bend Quilters. RELATED: Women's History Month – Jaycina Almond & The Tender Foundation Utilizing a theme of 'Pathways & Pipelines,' Rog & Bee helped create an atmosphere that visually reflected the idea of Black creativity as a bridge to history and beyond. Whether it's the bridges of knowledge formed by quilt-making being passed down generation after generation, single mothers having bridges of access for support in any way needed or simply bridges of communication that develop when a friendship turns to family on the Kitboys-led soccer field, each honoree is creating both pathways and pipelines for success in our community. Speaking with Sekou, he told us, 'I had a unique experience where I got to play at an all-Black youth club in Stone Mountain, so from there you sort of form your relationship with a lot of people that maintain over a long time. I fell in love with it, my parents kept [soccer] with me and a lot of opportunities I got in life came out of the game. ' He went on to add of the city's ever-thriving cultural diversity, 'You would think for a Southern city that [Atlanta] wouldn't be so progressive in a game like soccer — most people think it's football or baseball dominant. There's always been that love for the game in those pockets of culture [throughout ATL], and because the city is shaped the way it is we found it easy getting people into the fold of it. I dedicate it all to this city and having the right ingredients to really have a platform like [Kitboys Club] grow.' Throughout the night, he made sure to always feel accessible to the many high school teenagers in the building who were given special access to the private event as a way to get inspired. Yvette Glasco — Sekou Thornell, Kitboys Club Yvette Glasco Similar sentiments were shared as we spoke with the ladies of Gee's Bend Quilters. Sitting together and representing all ages and shades of Black beauty, it was understood from jump that we were in the presence of a bonded sisterhood. 'I encourage [my granddaughter] by telling her how to sew and stuff, just different quilts and stuff, so she can teach her children when she have kids and it keeps going,' said Sharon Williams, who enthusiastically went on to describe their ever-growing legacy by busting out into song with the tune 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now' by McFadden & Whitehead. Hearing from a younger voice on the team, twenty-something sew pro Francesca Charley told us, 'Everything I learned from quilting came from my grandma, great-aunt and my mother. It's because of their words of encouragement that I am where I am today. There were so many times where I wanted to give up or I thought what I was doing wasn't good enough, or I simply could never make what they make, but to be here now with adidas is a lot to think about.' Her mom, Claudia Pettway Charley, followed suit with beautiful insight by adding, 'Honoring Black Excellence is to honor your own legacy. Your honoring others who present excellence, but it really doesn't matter what the category or field is. It could just be that you live your life on a daily basis in your own excellence, especially if you're Black. It's a privilege just to be here being honored by a company such as adidas. Even being recognized by Rog & Bee, who take your stories and turn them into movies right in front of your face, is all the definition of excellence and honor. Doing it in ways that only Black people can feels exciting to me.' Yvette Glasco — Claudia Pettway Charley, Gee's Bend Quilters Yvette Glasco Good southern eats, drinks aplenty for those old enough to indulge responsibly, a live jazz performance that fit the mood of the party perfectly and studio-style portrait sessions being snapped by Rog & Bee themselves all came together to cap off a night we won't soon forget. When it comes to honoring our heritage and literally everything that make it so beautiful to be Black, we give props to The Three Stripes for pulling off a night worth coming outside on during one of the most humid days in Hotlanta! 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