Serena Williams is joining the ranks of outspoken athletes using their platforms to raise awareness and spark dialogue about police violence in America.
In a Facebook post published Tuesday afternoon, the tennis superstar and arguably the greatest athlete ever penned a statement on a recent experience she had while driving with her 18-year-old nephew.
Williams recounted her day, writing that while her nephew was driving, she saw a police officer on the side of the road. Her immediate reaction was to see if he was driving at the speed limit, but she also thought of the people who have been killed this summer — referring to Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, among many others — because of their encounters with police.
"I would never forgive myself if something happened to my nephew. He's so innocent. So were all 'the others,'" she wrote. "Why did I have to think about this in 2016? Have we not gone through enough, opened so many doors, impacted billions of lives?"
"As Dr. Martin Luther King said, 'There comes a time when silence is betrayal,'" she wrote. "I won't be silent."
You can read Williams' full statement, posted on her Facebook page, below:
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
