Serena Williams and Common discuss being bold and black
On the hour-long ESPN special “The Undefeated In-Depth: Serena with Common,” which aired Sunday night, the two former lovers discussed both sexism and race in the sports industry.
They spoke of Williams’ body image and her career as well.
“There was a time where I didn’t feel incredibly comfortable about my body, because I felt like I was too strong,” Williams said. “And then I had to take a second and think, who says I’m too strong? This body has enabled me to be the greatest player I can be and I’m not going to scrutinize that. This is great. I mean, this is amazing.”
She went on to talk about using her fame for good, in terms of social activism and speaking out against injustice.
— Serena Williams, Common spark rumors of rekindled romance —
This is the third episode of The Undefeated series, which is about conversations with black athletes.
When it comes to whether or not she should be considered one of the greatest athletes in history, Williams stated, “I think, if I were a man, I would’ve been in that conversation a long, long time ago. Like six, seven years ago. Eight years ago … I think being a woman is a whole new set of problems from a society that you have to deal with, as well — and being black. So it’s a lot to deal with. Especially lately, I’ve been able to really, really speak up for women’s rights, as well, because I think that gets lost in color or gets lost in cultures. We are doctors, we are lawyers, we are athletes, we are everything. We are CEOs. Women make up so much of this world.”
Common too has been busy, having recently released his 11th album, Black America Again.
