Serena Williams is joining Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Magic Johnson, Wilma Rudolph and the Harlem Globetrotters by receiving NAACP’s Jackie Robinson Sports award this weekend.
The 23-time singles Grand Slam winner will be honored at the NAACP Image Awards for her tennis achievements, business success and efforts to uplift the community.
The ceremony will air live Saturday on BET. Named for the Brooklyn Dodgers infielder who integrated Major League Baseball in 1947, the Jackie Robinson award recognizes individuals in sports for high achievement in athletics along with their pursuit of social justice, civil rights and community involvement.
‘From her record-breaking wins on the tennis court to her business acumen to her philanthropic endeavors, she has set the bar for athletes everywhere,’ said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP. He said Williams is the ‘quintessential example of Black excellence.’
Williams is regarded as one of the sports greatest athletes of all time, winning four Olympic gold medals, as well as 14 doubles Grand Slam titles. In total, the 41-year-old has won 73 professional tournaments.
Serena Williams is joining Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Magic Johnson, Wilma Rudolph and the Harlem Globetrotters by receiving NAACP’s Jackie Robinson Sports award this weekend. The 23-time singles Grand Slam winner will be honored at the NAACP Image Awards for her tennis achievements, business success and efforts to uplift the community
Outside of tennis, Williams was as an executive producer on the Oscar-nominated film ‘King Richard,’ a biopic based on her family. She launched her own venture capital firm and fashion brand that focuses on female empowerment.
She recently published a children’s book, ‘The Adventures of Qai Qai,’ and teamed with two veterans to launch a cruelty-free topical pain relief and daily muscle care solutions designed to reimagine recovery.
Williams has recently stepped away from tennis, although she’s stopped short of calling it a ‘retirement.’
‘I’m not retiring, I’m just evolving away from tennis and doing something else,’ the 40-year-old Williams told The Wall Street Journal in August, echoing previous statements she made to Vogue.
‘I probably should retire, for a few years at least, but for some inane reason I’m not,’ she said.
Currently, as any parent to a five-year-old can attest, her schedule centers around daughter Olympia. That means getting up with her at 7am, regardless of whether Williams is in training or not.
When asked about how Olympia impacts her routines, Williams said: ‘She totally threw a wrench in it, and it’s great.’
Named for the Brooklyn Dodgers infielder who integrated Major League Baseball in 1947, the Jackie Robinson award recognizes individuals in sports for high achievement in athletics along with their pursuit of social justice, civil rights and community involvement
Even before becoming a mother, Williams was never big on breakfast, saying she’s never really hungry in the morning.
Things are changing somewhat now that husband and billionaire Reddit co-found Alexis Ohanian has bought the family a farm with some accompanying chickens.
‘So we got some chicks and they grew up and now they’re chickens and I had some of their eggs, and it was really good,’ Williams said.
After Olympia is settled in the morning, it’s time for the endless parade of calls and meetings that fill investors’ days.
‘Wake up and go to the office and now that everything went digital, just sit and take calls all day,’ Williams said. ‘Usually when Olympia goes to school, I just go to work. I work-work-work and then I usually pick her up from school.’
Williams has vast business interests, including her own venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, which raised a reported inaugural fund of $111 million last March. Furthermore, she and sister Venus are both minority owners of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, she’s part owner of a National Women’s Soccer League Team, and she has her own sustainable clothing line, S by Serena.
‘I like to invest in things where I believe in the founder,’ she told the Journal.
Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr., center, strikes a pose, with mom Serena Williams, right and dad Alexis Ohanian, on the red carpet of the 2021 AFI Fest Gala Premiere of, King Richard, at the TCL Chinese Theatre, in Hollywood, California, Sunday, November 14, 2021
In this file photo taken on January 12, 2020 Serena Williams of the US with her daughter Alexis Olympia after her win against Jessica Pegula of the US during their women’s singles final match during the Auckland Classic tennis tournament in Auckland
When asked for a piece of advice that has helped guide her, Williams said she always puts ‘God first’ and then ‘everything else falls into place.’
The decision to step away was inevitable for Williams, who has not won a major singles tournament since the 2017 Australian Open, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Were she a man, weighing business and competition would be much simpler.
‘Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family,’ she wrote earlier this month for Vogue. ‘I don’t think it’s fair. If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family. Maybe I’d be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity.
‘A lot of people don’t realize that I was two months pregnant when I won the Australian Open in 2017,’ she continued. ‘But I’m turning 41 this month, and something’s got to give.’
Queen Latifah will host the 54th NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, California. The ceremony honors entertainers, athletes and writers of colors.
