During one of the biggest seasons of chucking up the deuces to toxic work environments, Naomi Osaka has announced that she will be withdrawing from the French Open.

Now some will argue that as the world’s highest-paid female athlete for the second year in a row, she has nothing to complain about and should just “shut-up and play”. Those people are idiots. The disgusting hypocrisy is that many of those same people will complain that she should speak with the media and press – just not about social justice, discrimination in sports, or racism in the locker rooms, etc. As an advocate for speaking out about mental health, I fully support Naomi’s decision; especially since the response she received to being upfront was a hefty monetary fine. (Money she hopes they put towards mental health organizations).

I also realize that there was probably a contract stipulating media and press interviews, but if she had injured herself physically, they would have made an acception and/or accommodations. Why is the same consideration not given to mental trauma? If the full well-being of the players in these tournaments and competitions isn’t at the forefront, how can we expect them to play their best? And what then is the real priority?

(I think we all know the answer is: $$$)

You may also be aware that Naomi Osaka is Japanese and Haitian and has been outspoken about police brutality and racial injustice. She wore Black Lives Matter masks during the 2020 US Open Championship, with each mask naming a Black person whose death had been cited in nationwide protests about racial injustice. Naomi told the media that wearing the masks was her way of using her platform to protest the injustices and advocate that ‘Black lives matter.’

You can’t tell me that a little less than a year later the French-US-Australian Open and Wimbledon fining and subsequently threatening to kick Naomi out of the French Open wasn’t a form of retaliation. But she gracefully took her power back and left with her self-respect and self-care.

If only NBA players had drawn such a definitive line in the sand to not play during the 2020 social justice uprising. Now some of those same Black players are experiencing racist attacks: “In Philadelphia, a fan threw popcorn at Westbrook and was banned from the arena. In New York, a fan spit on Trae Young and was also banned. In Utah, fans who made vulgar and racist remarks to the family of Ja Morant were banned. And in Boston, a fan was arrested after throwing a bottle of water apparently at Kyrie Irving’s head.”^1. The platform of sports players, especially in predominantly Black sports, is strong and can slap some reality into proponents of wyte supremacy.

But with great power comes great responsibility and a necessary understanding of what needs to be done to spark change, without being swayed or influenced by money.

1. ESPN