On Cori Gauff and the Importance of Having SHEro's
The moment she won was akin to the final scenes of movie: the crowd erupted in a roar, time seemed to slow and she threw her hands over her head in tears as she realized the significance of what she’d just achieved.
I’m willing to bet most of us watching got full-body chills. What the world just witnessed was groundbreaking and immediately catapulted a relatively unknown teenage tennis player into an international tennis sensation. A 15-year-old black girl from Boca Raton, Florida, who'd started playing tennis just a few year's prior at 8-years old, had just upset her already world famous, opponent. With her glowing chocolate skin, and flowing singles braids, Cori "CoCo" Gauff played exceptionally well in her first Grand Slam singles match last Monday and the opening round at Wimbledon, leading her to victory.
And her opponent? A five-time champion of Wimbledon and one of Gauff’s biggest self-proclaimed idols, tennis juggernaut Venus Williams. To put the age and generational gap in perspective: Williams was already a household name when Gauff was born in 2004. Prior to the William's sisters arrival and domination, tennis was largely saturated by white, upper-class players. And now the fruits of the Williams’ sisters impact on the sport can be clearly seen in Gauff's rise. A rise, that even caught the attention of #ForeverFirstLady Michelle Obama.
Her win not only brings Gauff's talent to the forefront of the sports world but it also echoes the importance of having examples that look like us. Seeing women who came from similar backgrounds, had similar experiences and have faced similar challenges on their journey now succeeding, can cause a ripple effect through the black community. And as simple as it may sound it's shown to have profound effects on younger generations time and time again. Like lights at the ends of our tunnels we look to our highest achievers for inspiration especially when they soar in fields in which they are apart of a handful of, or worse, the only black person. In fact, when examining most of our notable black figures across professions (sports, entertainment, medicine politics etc.) we'd be hard pressed to not find a correlation between their success and that of someone who set the bar before them. Janet and Michael Jackson are accredited as being major influences to the likes of Whitney Houston, Usher, Ciara, Chris Brown, and Bruno Mars. Beyonce has credited Anita Baker, Chaka Khan and Diana Ross as major influences on her career. Ava DuVernay notes she created her adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time especially for the purpose of creating an example for young women like her.
Beyonce Knowles and Jay Z at Wimbledon in 2016.
Like Gabby Douglas had Dominique Dawes. Like Allyson Felix had Jackie Joyner Keese, FloJo, and Wilma Rudolph.
Like Venus and Serena had Althea. Now, we have Cori.
For the older generations who've watched as Venus and Serena rise to their superstar status it's been years of cheering and supporting even if only by watching from our homes. For girls like Cori Gauff and black girls like her, it's meant the life-changing influence of two SHEro's she can aspire to emulate. Gauff, who is now the youngest woman in the world to qualify at Wimbledon, and her parents credit the Williams sisters for paving the way and serving as a major reason why she picked up a tennis racket in the first place. It is yet another testament to the power of representation across arenas. "When we shook hands she told me congratulations and to keep going and good luck." Guaff told BBC News. "I said 'thank you for everything you've done, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her."
And as she went on to make history again this past past Friday by becoming the youngest player to advance to the 16th round at a Grand Slam (since 1991), we can only continue stand in awe of her incredible #BlackGirlMagic, loudly and proudly cheering her on...even if only from our TV screens. While knowing, undoubtedly she too is striking passion in the heart of another precious black girl, somewhere, and in her own right soaring higher for the day she passes the baton to another queen.
