Serena’s achievements and attitude are a beacon to all Black girls Etan Thomas

Serena Williams announced her impending retirement from professional tennis in Vogue magazine last week.

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As we celebrate her greatness and all that Williams has achieved on the court – the 23 major singles titles, the four Olympic gold medals, the 319 weeks at No 1 in the world rankings – I think it’s important to not skim over all that she had to endure offof it and the inspiration she’s given to Black girls in particular.

I remember when my daughters Imani and Baby Sierra were a little younger and I was watching a segment on ESPN’s SportsCenter. They were not really paying attention until they overheard the commentators discussing the onslaught of body shaming, slander and general criticism that Serena was being bombarded with. My daughters began listening intently as it was reported that Serena had been accused of being “too manly”. One tennis coach had said he didn’t want his players to look like Serena, others were saying that her butt was too big, some were still critici sing the beads that she and her sister Venus wore when they were younger. Other critics said that Serena had the wrong body type for tennis and therefore wasn’t fully reali sing her potential .