Bernstein’s Changing the Trajectory: Actively Black Is a Movement

Bernstein’s Changing the Trajectory podcast featured Actively Black, the Black-owned athleisure brand founded by Lanny Smith in 2020, in a November 2022 episode titled “Actively Black Is Not Just an Apparel Brand, It’s a Movement.” Hosts James Thompson, Bernstein’s Head of Diverse Market Strategy, and Maci Philitas, its Emerging Wealth Strategist, talked with Smith about his path from the NBA to entrepreneurship. The episode also covered the brand’s community reinvestment and its partnership with Marvel Studios.

Key takeaways

• Bernstein’s hosts noted that Smith’s NBA career ended in 2009, 33 days after he signed with the Sacramento Kings, and that he founded Active Faith Sports in 2011 and Actively Black in 2020.
• Smith explained that the name is a double meaning: encouraging the community to be physically active, and being active in family, education and civil rights.
• Smith said Actively Black gives back to organizations such as the Compton Girls Club and Between the Lines, which holds basketball camps inside prisons, and hosted an event for 700 Inglewood residents at SoFi Stadium.
• Smith described how Daymond John saw his Black Panther concept deck during a FUBU meeting and called Marvel’s head of licensing, which led to an official Wakanda Forever collaboration.
• Smith said signing Deja Kelly as the brand’s first NIL athlete made history, that it mattered to him that the first was a Black woman, and that Travis Hunter and Shedeur and Shilo Sanders were signed as its first HBCU athletes.
• One host said Actively Black was projected to pass $10 million in sales that year and noted that Michelle Obama had posted the brand on Instagram.

In Lanny's words

“The apparel is just a uniform for the movement.”

— Lanny Smith, Changing the Trajectory (November 2022)

“We have to be what we've been asking for. We have to be our heroes.”

— Lanny Smith, Changing the Trajectory

“faith to me is a verb. It's an action.”

— Lanny Smith, Changing the Trajectory

Why it matters

Smith used this conversation to explain the mission. Big brands made billions from Black athletes and Black culture, he said, but the neighborhoods those athletes came from often look the same. Actively Black exists to put profits back into those communities through local organizations, wellness events and programs.

He also connected the brand to health. For the movement to continue, he said, the community has to be able to keep moving. That is why we build performance apparel, host free wellness events, and celebrate every way of being actively Black, from fathers showing up for their kids to students fighting to finish their degrees.

Shop the story

The Black Panther partnership Smith described became our Wakanda collection. Explore our HBCU collection and the full performance line.

Frequently asked questions

Who founded Actively Black?

Lanny Smith, a former professional basketball player, founded Actively Black in 2020. He previously founded Active Faith Sports in 2011.

What did Bernstein’s podcast say about Actively Black?

Bernstein’s Changing the Trajectory described Actively Black as a Black-owned athleisure brand that is also a movement, and its hosts praised its mission to reinvest in the Black community.

Is Actively Black Black-owned?

Yes. Actively Black is a Black-owned athleisure and athletic apparel brand founded by Lanny Smith.

How did Actively Black get its Black Panther collaboration?

Smith said Daymond John saw his Black Panther concept deck during a meeting and called Marvel’s head of licensing. The result was an official collaboration for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Listen to the full episode: Actively Black Is Not Just an Apparel Brand, It’s a Movement, Bernstein Changing the Trajectory (November 2022)