Tennis champ Naomi Osaka has just competed in her first-round match at the US Open, and she’s using her time at the two-week tournament to send a powerful message about victims of violence – with the help of face masks.
On Day 1 of the tournament, Osaka appeared on the court before her match against Misaki Doi sporting a black face mask printed with the name “Breonna Taylor”.
Breonna Taylor was a 26-year-old unarmed Black woman who was fatally shot by Louisville police officers in early March after they executed a no-knock search warrant of her apartment. Taylor’s tragic death sparked outrage from members of the local community, and worldwide protests, with many demanding the officers involved in her shooting be fired and criminally charged.
Following her victory over Misaki Doi, Naomi Osaka told reporters, “I’m aware that tennis is watched all over the world, and maybe there is someone that doesn’t know Breonna Taylor’s story.”
“Maybe they’ll Google it or something. For me, [it’s] just spreading awareness. I feel like more people know the story, then the more interesting or interested they’ll become in it,” she added, via Stuff.co.nz.
Osaka also told reporters “it’s quite sad” the seven masks she plans to wear throughout the US Open “isn’t enough for the amount of names.”
“Hopefully I’ll get to the finals and you can see all of them,” she said.
According to Stuff.co.nz, Osaka refused to compete in a semifinal of the Western & Southern Open after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was fatally shot by a Kenosh police officer last week.
“I felt like I needed to raise my voice,” Osaka told reporters when she returned to the court on Friday wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt. Hear about the Black Lives Matter protests below:
She later tweeted, “As a Black woman, I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis.”
“I don’t expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a conversation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction. Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach,” she added.
It’s inspiring to see Naomi Osaka use face masks and her public platform to speak out about these incredibly important issues, and continue the fight for victims of violence and police brutality.
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