Serena Williams speaks out on social injustice, says ‘I Won’t Be Silent’

On Tuesday, Serena Williams recounted a story on her Facebook page, where she experienced anxiety from seeing a police officer on the side of the road while her 18-year-old nephew drove her to her appointment. At the end, she declared that she would not be silent about police brutality and racism, issues that many athletes have been raising in the past month through protest.

Here’s Williams’ Facebook post, in full:

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

It’s a solemn reminder that there’s still much work left to be done.

It’s also not the first time Williams has spoken out about these issues before. Williams tweeted about the death Philando Castile in July, questioning when real change would actually come.

Her comments on Facebook on Tuesday expanded on her initial thoughts in July and reinforced the need to not be silent. That’s been a recent trend in professional sports as more athletes are breaking away from the mantra of athletes being expected to be silent and stick to sports. Instead, more like Williams are speaking out and having their voices heard.

(h/t For The Win)