Serena Williams & More Round Out Weekend Of Black Folks Being Amazing

Source: (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images) / Getty

Black excellence was in full swing this past weekend thanks to a line-up of events that left people cheering at the most and being proud to be Black at the least.

It’s important to know that #BlackExcellence means many things for many different people. For some, it means being a good sport in spite of monumental resistance and ridicule. Take Serena Williams for example.

Here’s a woman who’s had to endure every racist and sexist comment in the book during her tennis career, yet she still manages to be one of the greatest athletes of all time with countless Grand Slam wins. Many say Williams had to combat racism and sexism AGAIN at the U.S. Open final on Saturday when she played Naomi Osaka. 

According to The New York Times, Serena received a code violation when the chair umpire accused her of getting sideline instruction from her coach Patrick Mouratoglou. However, Serena vehemently denied that she cheated by getting instructions from her coach.

Later, Serena lost a point playing Osaka and out of anger, she smashed her tennis racket. The umpire cited another code violation because of this and since it was her second, Serena lost a whole point. Her frustration at the umpire built and she demanded an apology for saying she cheated in the first place. But the umpire didn’t seem to budge. Eventually, Serena called him a “thief” for taking a point from her and with this remark, the umpire gave her a third code violation.

Many people, including Serena herself, said that men have made far worse remarks to umpires, yet they don’t get penalized. Serena eventually lost the game to Osaka, but she remained a good sport. She congratulated Osaka and even comforted her when she started to cry because people were booing in the audience.

One Black woman supporting another Black woman in spite of BS?

#BlackExcellence at its finest.

On top of all this, Osaka still played an amazing game, giving her #BlackExcellence kudos as well.

And don’t think Serena is going to keep quiet about the double standard between men and women in tennis. She made a final statement to the press saying she wouldn’t stop fighting for women’s equality. Check out her tear-jerking inspirational words starting at the 8:38 mark below! Then hit the next page to peep how #BlackExcellence popped off between two rap stars!

Another episode of #BlackExcellence came this weekend when Drake brought Meek Mill out onstage at his concert in Boston on Saturday.

The two had a notorious rap beef that lasted over three years, but now it seems the two are squashing the drama once and for all, and fans were ecstatic.

https://twitter.com/MrBlackMamba1/status/1039163524080128001

Winning.

Finally, the Creative Arts Emmys was also full of #BlackExcellence this weekend. John Legend became the first Black man to EGOT (win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) when Jesus Christ Superstar, Live in Concert won Outstanding Variety Special. Legend served as a producer for the project, so he took home an award!

More Black people went home with Emmys that night, including Tiffany Haddish, who won her first Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Her hosting gig on Saturday Night Live got her the gold. Kenan Thompson also received an Emmy for Saturday Night Live in the category of Best Music and Lyrics thanks to his co-writing on the parody song “Come Back Barack.”

So yea, #BlackExcellence has no limits.

And if you were wondering if Black people were still killing the fashion game too…

Affirmative.

Until our next celebration of #BlackExcellence, continue to do whatever “excellence” means for you!