SERENA WILLIAMS: THE WORLD OWES YOU AN APOLOGY

The world owes you an apology 
Not just the umpire 
Not just the French Open 
Not just racists who ask if you feel intimidated by Sharapova’s basic looks 
Or being drug tested more than
The basic looking actual drug user
The nurses and doctors who ignored
Your knowledge
Of your own body
Almost causing your death
Every time they questioned your
Femininity
Ability
Strength
Integrity
Victory
They did so because of your skin
Asian parents who mold their children are
Tiger mothers
White parents who risk everything
Turn sex tapes into millions
Are momagers
But your father who made legends out of
Compton Concrete
Shaping you and your sister
Like Michelangelo chiseled David
He is loud
Obnoxious
Insane
The world owes you an apology
But we know it will never come
Because first they would have to acknowledge
The hatred
The racism
It isn’t your black panther suit
Your beauty
Your millions
You venting to a umpire
A broken racket
Or a demand of proper medical care
It’s your blackness that offends
Your power when you should be powerless
Your confidence
When you should always grovel
Always remind yourself
That you should thank them
for allowing you
To be on the courts at all
As if a Queen tells the jester
thank you for her
Throne
You are the living breathing embodiment of
#blackgirlmagic
The dream of our ancestors
The power of our foremothers
The strength that the
Middle passage
Slavery
Jim Crow
and America
Could not break
You are more than the
GOAT
You are goddess
Fearless
More than tennis
You are a living black legend
And they hate you for it” ~ Leslé Honoré