I remember sitting at the writer’s desk at my first journalism job and overhearing my colleagues talk about Serena Williams. They were discussing her 2012 win at Wimbledon and I can never forget the conversation my three white colleagues (one man and two women) were having. The ringleader, who fancied herself as a tennis expert, started the conversation with: “people need to stop writing articles about Serena not being as popular as Federer. She’s just not and just because she’s not popular, it doesn’t mean everybody is racist or sexist.” The man responded: “she’s just not charismatic.” I actually wrote about this conversation in a very early newsletter about how Serena Williams’ presence and greatness can make you feel both visible and invisible as a black woman.

Over the last three decades, we have watched Serena Williams’ unique ability to empower black women to be relentless and fearless in their pursuit of greatness, while educating and equipping black women on how to navigate the misogynoir that comes with being powerful or more accurately, the most powerful within white spaces.