Serena Williams says the Black Lives Matter movement is bringing awareness to issues that have always existed.
The tennis star talks about the power of technology and activism in the November issue of British Vogue.
“Now, we as Black people have a voice – and technology has been a huge part of that,” she says. “We see things that have been hidden for years; the things that we as people have to go through. This has been happening for years. People just couldn’t pull out their phones and video it before.”
She mentions that it has helped people empathize better with the struggles that Black people have always faced.
“At the end of May, I had so many people who were white writing to me saying, ‘I’m sorry for everything you’ve had to go through.’ I think for a minute they started – not to understand, because I don’t think you can understand – but they started to see,” Williams explains. “I was like: well, you didn’t see any of this before? I’ve been talking about this my whole career. It’s been one thing after another.”
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The tennis star has mentioned in the past the double standard she is held to compared to her male or white peers in the sports world.
“Underpaid, undervalued,” she says. Despite these setbacks, she explains that it has never made her question her identity. “I’ve never been a person that has been like, ‘I want to be a different colour’ or ‘I want my skin tone to be lighter.’ I like who I am, I like how I look, and I love representing the beautiful dark women out there. For me, it’s perfect. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
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The November issue of British Vogue will be available on newsstands and for digital download on Oct. 9.
