It’s been a whirlwind month for Serena Williams. The Greatest Athlete on Earth became a mother, welcoming a daughter named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. with her fiancé, Alexis Ohanian, on September 1. The couple kept the newest addition to their family a secret until last week, when they revealed baby Alexis’ first photo and a slew of other pregnancy videos on Instagram Stories.
And Williams isn’t done sharing. The tennis champion posted a very emotional letter to her mother, Oracene Price, on Reddit Tuesday, where she talked about her hopes, dreams, and fears for her daughter. The main takeaway is that Williams hopes her daughter doesn’t have to deal with the same racist and sexist criticisms she’s experienced since the beginning of her career.
“I was looking at my daughter (OMG, yes, I have a daughter 😳) and she has my arms and legs! My exact same strong, muscular, powerful, sensational arms and body. I don’t know how I would react if she has to go through what I’ve gone through since I was a 15 year old and even to this day,” Williams wrote.
She specifically addresses two things: the accusations that she’s used performance-enhancing drugs and the media constantly calling her a “man” because of her appearance.
“I’ve been called man because I appeared outwardly strong,” Williams wrote. “It has been said that that I use drugs. (No, I have always had far too much integrity to behave dishonestly in order to gain an advantage.) It has been said I don’t belong in women’s sports—that I belong in men’s—because I look stronger than many other women do. (No, I just work hard and I was born with this badass body and proud of it.)”
It’s clear from this letter that Williams received a lot of her strength from Price, whom she admires for “not going off on every single reporter, person, announcer and, quite frankly, hater who was too ignorant to understand the power of a Black woman.”
“I am proud we were able to show them what some women look like,” she wrote. “We don’t all look the same. We are curvy, strong, muscular, tall, small, just to name a few, and all the same: We are women and proud!”
Williams hopes to instill similar values in Alexis, but she admits she’s not finished growing yet and needs help from her mother.
“Thank you for being the role model I needed to endure all the hardships that I now regard as a challenges—ones that I enjoy. I hope to teach my baby Alexis Olympia the same, and have the same fortitude you have had,” she wrote. “Promise me, Mom, that you will continue to help. I’m not sure if I am as meek and strong as you are yet. I hope to get there one day. I love you dearly.”
Read Serena Williams’ full letter here.
Taken from GLAMOUR US. Click here to read the original.
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