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TORONTO, ON – AUGUST 11: Serena Williams of the United States becomes upset after withdrawing from the final match against Bianca Andreescu of Canada due to a back injury on Day 9 of the Rogers Cup at Aviva Centre on August 11, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
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TORONTO, ON – AUGUST 11: Serena Williams of the United States becomes upset after withdrawing from the final match against Bianca Andreescu of Canada due to a back injury on Day 9 of the Rogers Cup at Aviva Centre on August 11, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
Former world no. 1 Serena Williams, a 23-time grand slam winner, got back at The New York Times article few days ago. The article was about her venture capital firm ‘Serena Ventures’ and it had made the mistake of uploading the picture of Venus instead of Serena Williams.
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No matter how far we come, we get reminded that it's not enough. This is why I raised $111M for @serenaventures. To support the founders who are overlooked by engrained systems woefully unaware of their biases. Because even I am overlooked. You can do better, @nytimes. pic.twitter.com/hvfCl5WUoz
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) March 2, 2022
Serena Williams corrects the narrative
In a podcast interview with Emily Chang of Bloomberg Technology, Serena elaborated further over her reaction.
“Honestly, I have been through a lot in my career and in my life. I don’t let one thing tick me off too much, ” the American highlighted the fact that even she gets neglected.
Serena continued, “For me, I process it as an opportunity to use it to let other people know that you are not the only one who is overlooked. This is why I’m rising Serena Ventures, and this is why I want to make an impact because we need people like me, people like Alison(CFA, Serena Venture) to be right in the checks to change that narrative so that we don’t have to be overlooked.”
Reuters
Tennis – Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain – June 27, 2021 Serena Williams of the U.S. during a press conference Pool via REUTERS/Florian Eisele
The venture capital firm raised 111 million dollars but the article was published with Venus Williams’ picture on it in the New York Times. Serena made her displeasure clear and tweeted their mistake.
Consequently, the NYT issued an apology, citing an error. Further, she talked about the careless publishing of the article. The player said, “Just thought about it, just said, let me just post this as soon as I can. I’m not even going to think about it. It doesn’t really matter to me. It’s really about changing that narrative.”
Serena highlighted the responsibility that one has to carry on while expressing or reporting. She stated, “If you have a platform to talk about it, to discuss it, then it needs to be discussed. I think it’s important for other women and other people of color to see that.”
Reuters
Tennis – French Open – Roland Garros, Paris, France – June 6, 2021 Serena Williams of the U.S. in action during her fourth round match against Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
The 23-time Grand Slam champion showed her accord with other people who have struggled with such issues.
“You know you are not the only one struggling. I have been no.1 for, I don’t know, eons. The fact that that can still happen is the truth. This is why we have Serena Ventures.”
As has been noted, the stardom of Serena Williams could not shade her from such incidents. Some people might have seen this as a nuanced mistake, but she was right to stand against it.
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