Serena Williams is an inspirational figure for so many of us. She is more than one of the best atletes to grace our time, she is a role model who has fought adversity due to her skin color, her femininity and more. However she has been relatively silent on one of the biggest problems plaguing the USA right now. She hasn’t really stepped into the ring concerning Police Brutality and violence towards black America…. That is until now, and we all welcome her support and voice.

On Tuesday, Serena wrote a heartfelt post on Facebook. She wrote:

Today I asked my 18 year old nephew (to be clear he’s black) to drive me to my meetings so I can work on my phone #safteyfirst. In the distance I saw cop on the side of the road. I quickly checked to see if he was obliging by the speed limit. Than I remembered that horrible video of the woman in the car when a cop shot her boyfriend. All of this went through my mind in a matter of seconds. I even regretted not driving myself. I would never forgive myself if something happened to my nephew. He’s so innocent. So were all “the others”
I am a total believer that not “everyone” is bad It is just the ones that are ignorant, afraid, uneducated, and insensitive that is affecting millions and millions of lives.
Why did I have to think about this in 2016? Have we not gone through enough, opened so many doors, impacted billions of lives? But I realized we must stride on- for it’s not how far we have come but how much further still we have to go.
I than wondered than have I spoken up? I had to take a look at me. What about my nephews? What if I have a son and what about my daughters?
As Dr. Martin Luther King said ” There comes a time when silence is betrayal”.
I
Won’t
Be
Silent
Serena

Serena’s original post can be found here.

Serena isn’t saying a word that doesn’t go through the minds of almost every black person in a car in America in 2016. She is just voicing the reality that people of color have to live with.

And this is 2016, 2016 is the time and the place when this mess is happening.

Her voice, her presence and her vow to not be silent are positive in negative times.

Thanks for not staying silent like so many other paid-off privileged celebrities.