‘Won’t be silent’: Serena Williams joins protest against police killings in US

ByAP
Updated on: Sept 28, 2016 01:41 pm IST

Star tennis player Serena Williams posted on Facebook saying she “won’t be silent” about the killing of black men by police officers.

Star tennis player Serena Williams says she “won’t be silent” about the killing of black men by police officers.

Serena Williams returns a serve during the 2016 US Open women's singles in New York. The ace tennis player is latest in a list of star athletes voicing their protest against police killings of black people.(AFP)
Serena Williams returns a serve during the 2016 US Open women's singles in New York. The ace tennis player is latest in a list of star athletes voicing their protest against police killings of black people.(AFP)

On Tuesday, Williams wrote on Facebook that she was inspired to speak out after asking her black 18-year-old nephew to drive her to a meeting. Their car travelled past a police officer, and Williams “quickly checked to see if he was obliging by the speed limit” so as to avoid an interaction with the officer.

Read | US: Police video shows black man killed by cops in Oklahoma had no gun

Williams recalled “that horrible video of the woman in the car when a cop shot her boyfriend” — a reference to when Philando Castile was shot by a Minnesota police officer in July — and said she worried about similar fates for members of her family.

Read | Philando Castile was stopped 52 times by police: Was it racial profiling?

Williams also quoted Martin Luther King Jr., saying “there comes a time when silence is betrayal,” before ending the post with: “I Won’t Be Silent.”

Williams joins a high-profile group of athletes speaking out about social injustice. San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in the preseason and has been joined by professional, collegiate and high school athletes nationwide.

Also read | After North Carolina: Reopening the black question

Get the latest headlines from US news and global updates from Pakistan, UK, Bangladesh, and Russia get all the latest headlines in one place with including Indonesia ferry fireon Hindustan Times.
Get the latest headlines from US news and global updates from Pakistan, UK, Bangladesh, and Russia get all the latest headlines in one place with including Indonesia ferry fireon Hindustan Times.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
SHARE
close
Story Saved
Live Score
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
Get App