Black women are the most disrespected people on this planet and in this country. The hate for these women is amplified when it comes to those who are in the public eye or in the world of sports. Most of the hate comes form insecure men who can’t hold a candle to any of these women no matter what sport they play. Look at someone like Serena Williams who has been dominating tennis since the Bush administration was in office, the hate she has received is astronomical. From the way she dresses, her hairstyles, competitive nature, or physique. They’re quick to call her manly because she has more muscles than they could even imagine having. It’s jealousy. Imagine being a grown man that’s jealous of a woman because she’s in better shape than you’ll ever be, who can she look like a man and you don’t even look like a man? Crazy. Deeper than that, remember when she had words with one of the judges during her match with Naomi Osaka back in 2018? They called her every name in the book, even drew a racist cartoon strip that depicted her as a big, crying, monkey like figure crying on the court. In that same drawing pictured a light, small, blonde haired girl whom was supposed to be Naomi Osaka, emphases on supposed to be because I think the artist forgot she is also Black. Serena is the ultimate competitor and we know when you compete at that high level for so long you have a fire lit in you. When Federer slams his racket, Brady throws his helmet, Luka mouths off at a ref, are there think pieces or international outrage? No.

Back to Naomi Osaka who is a decorated tennis player, advocate, and overall great person. She has not been afraid to advocate for Black lives or mental health awareness. She did not want to speak to the media during the French Open because of how mentally draining it was for her. Let’s be real, the media asks the most dumbest questions. The other day somebody asked Javale McGee if his mother was still alive, like what are we doing here? I brought that up to say that some members of the media aren’t there to inquire about the game just there to try to get a rise out of these athletes. Naomi has been open about how shy she is and how taxing talking to the media is. Her job is to show up and play not show up and answer the same questions over and over. So when she said she would not be speaking to the media she was threatened with fines and suspension because they felt that her not speaking to the media unlike her opponents, she would have an advantage, so what you’re saying is multiple media sessions can have a negative impact on these athletes? Case closed. Ultimately Naomi Osaka would choose her well being over the game that she loves.

Fast forward to today where Simone Biles is facing massive criticism for dropping out of the rest of her events at the Olympics to preserve her mental health. The first thing I saw was “And she calls herself the goat..” let’s be clear she is the goat. You get to call yourself the goat when you are the most decorated US women’s gymnast ever. 31 world/olympic medals and you’re telling me she’s not the goat, then who? Can you even name five other women in gymnastics? They had to change the scoring system because nobody else can do what she does and they want the completion to be “fair”. That sounds like something only a GOAT can make happen. Everybody loves you until you acknowledge your own greatness then it’s a problem, then they throw that self awareness in your face during your darkest moments. Simone Biles is only 24 years old and has the pressure of an entire country on her shoulders, I’m 22 and I can barely handle my own life’s pressures. Biles withdrew from the rest of the group events which I think makes her look like a better teammate because why would she want to be a liability to her team? Then news broke that she wouldn’t finish in singles comp so clearly something is genuinely wrong. Just about every athlete in the world including a goat in his own right and mental health advocate Michael Phelps is supporting Biles. It seems like fragile men who haven’t competed in anything other than Call of Duty are the ones who have a problem with her.

Black women are always looked at as strong, independent, or intimidating to some. These women are always on the frontline for everyone else but who is there for them when they need help? Who steps in front of the bullets thrown at them? Who is there to console them like they console us? Black women are tired, hell I’m tired for them. Mental health is important, if you could choose yourself over your job on a Monday morning when you mentally don’t want to be there wouldn’t you? Black women are proud, brave, influential, they are the blueprint and have every right to choose themselves.

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