User:Lauradeane3/Serena Williams

Lead

Serena Williams also is a pioneer for gender equality bringing attention to the difficulties black women face in the workplace, using her own experiences on the court as an example.

Activism

In 2017, Williams wrote a personal essay published a personal essay published by Fortune Magazine speaking out against the pay between black women and men. Stating "Women of color have to work on average eight months longer to earn the same as their male counterparts do in one year.” In 2018, Williams also participated in a campaign on Twitter "#38PercentCounts" for Black Women's Equal Pay Day. The campaign comes from the statistic that on average Black women in the U.S. are paid 36% less than white men and 20% less than white women.

Personal Life

Williams noticed the signs of her pulmonary embolism but while at the hospital, and was dismissed by her nurses, suggesting that she was confused due to the pain medicine. This event allowed for Serena to shed to light on the health care system not valuing the lives of black women equally to white women. The Maternal Mortality rate in the United states has a huge gap based on race, as African American women are three to four times more likely to die during or after delivery than are white women.

References

"Serena Williams: How Black Women Can Close the Pay Gap". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-04-11.

Williams, Serena. “Black Women Are Paid 38% Less than White Men!!! I Support Equal Pay Because #38percentcounts. Https://T.co/XFHhBUPFfx Pic.twitter.com/izpbiqjz6z.” Twitter, Twitter, 7 Aug. 2018, https://twitter.com/serenawilliams/status/1026917353597161472?s=20&t=S4Atblv3qZINKbFnNXygZQ.

"Black women aren't paid fairly". Lean In. Retrieved 2022-04-11.

Boston, 677 Huntington Avenue; Ma 02115 +1495‑1000 (2018-12-18). "America is Failing its Black Mothers". Harvard Public Health Magazine. Retrieved 2022-04-11.

"Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System | Maternal and Infant Health | CDC". www.cdc.gov. 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2022-04-11.