During the Olympic Trials, I had no doubt that Richardson was going to win the meter finals—it was just a matter of by how much. When I watched her fly through the finish line in It wasn't because she made it look effortless, but it was because I saw how unapologetic Richardson is about the way she moves through the world.
And as a Black woman, that moment meant the world to me. Richardson shows up to every competition as her authentic self. She's listening to music and having fun in the warm-up area. She engages with the crowd as the announcers introduce her. She enjoys the spotlight and she enjoys putting on a show. And when the gun goes off, there's no doubt you're going to experience one of the most exciting 10 seconds of your life.
I want people to celebrate her as a Black woman—and what that means in its entirety—versus simply lauding the palatable parts of her that make white people comfortable and that are "marketable. She's not afraid to correct reporters during interviews when they mispronounce her name it's sha-KAIR-ee for those wondering.
She's not afraid to celebrate her success. That's what I want the world to see when they look at her, when they talk about her, and when they write about her. Because as Black women, rarely are we afforded the opportunity to be our authentic selves, let alone celebrate our wins, without it being misconstrued or used against us, especially in our place of work.
After the trials, she drew deserved criticism for old tweets of hers that many people took to be homophobic and that appeared to be sympathetic to Chris Brown, who in was arrested for assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna. I hope she takes responsibility for these statements and apologizes to those she offended and hurt, just as she did after testing positive for marijuana. Take the racism and sexism Serena and Venus Williams have always been subjected to because they are Black and better than their white counterparts.
