Category: Profiles

Coretta Scott King: Civil Rights Warrior

 

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members, a heart of grace, and a soul generated by love,”

– Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King was an activist and leader during the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement. She was also the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King. Although her name is forever linked to Dr. King, Mrs. King was also an activist and pioneer in her own right. After his death, she continued his work for African-American rights. She also became a leader in women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and the anti-apartheid movement.

King was born in 1927 in Marion, Alabama. Her parents were entrepreneurs, and she inherited her mother’s musical talent. She quickly excelled in this area and became the lead in the school choir in grade school. Mrs. King graduated as valedictorian in high school before heading to Antioch College in Ohio. Here, she received her BA in Music.

Soon after, she received a scholarship to the New England Conservatory in Boston. There, she met doctoral student Martin Luther King Jr. They married in 1953. A year later, she graduated from the Conservatory and moved to Montgomery, Alabama. There, Martin became the pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, which later became a center for the Civil Rights Movement.

Due to Dr. King’s active participation in the Civil Rights Movement, the couple was a frequent target of white supremacist groups. Throughout this time, King stayed by her husband’s side and raised their four children together. When he was traveling, she often stayed behind to manage their home.

When Dr. King was tragically assassinated on April 4, 1968, Mrs. King continued to support the causes he passionately fought for and advocated. She showed strength and resilience when she marched on a labor strike days after her husband’s funeral. Mrs. King also supported women’s rights and openly spoke against the Vietnam War.

That same year, King established the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, also known as The King Center. It is both a memorial and a nonprofit focused on protecting and advancing her husband’s legacy. She envisioned it as “no dead monument, but a living memorial filled with all the vitality that was his, a center of human endeavor, committed to the causes for which he lived and died.” The center was active in carrying out educational and community programs until King retired in the 1990s. Today, the King Center is being revitalized to become a more engaged educational and social change institution.

King became well-known worldwide, and she spent time traveling, speaking about racism and economic issues. She also became an author and wrote her memoir, “My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr.” King received over 60 honorary doctorates from various colleges and universities. She also helped found numerous organizations, including the Black Leadership Forum and the Black Leadership Roundtable.

Mrs. King was an exceptional leader and one of the most influential African-American figures of her time. In 2006, she passed away from complications from ovarian cancer. She was the first woman and first African-American woman to lie in state at the Georgia Capitol. Her funeral drew several presidents and other heads of state. King lived her life as an example of a woman who stood by her husband, then stood on her own, and continued with his work after he died.

Coretta Scott King was at the forefront of peace, love, and social change. Her legacy lives on and will be continued well into the future.

 

Sacred Fire Creative honors women who positively impacted their communities through our #WomenWhoMatter series. Do you want to be a woman business owner who wants to make a difference in your space? Work with us today.


Carina Dayondon: First Filipina Mountaineer to Reach the Seven Summits

“What’s more important for me is we showed the Filipinas, the young ones, there’s nothing impossible if you’re determined, focused, and if you believe in your dreams. It’s okay to get a record, but does it have a point? Did you inspire anyone? Did you touch anyone’s heart, inspire them to do something like that? That’s what’s important to us. The message is there, to inspire the kids and the Filipinos,” – Carina Dayondon

Carina Dayondon is a Filipina mountaineer, Philippine Coast Guard officer, and adventurer. She is also the first Filipina to climb and reach the Seven Summits, the seven tallest mountains of each continent. She accomplished this feat in December 2018, when she successfully ascended Vinson Massif in Antarctica.

Her journey towards this amazing accomplishment began in 2006 when she reached the top of Mount Denali in Alaska. The following year, she climbed Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, with fellow female mountaineers Noelle Wenceslao and Janet Belarmino. She is officially the second Filipina to get to the summit, ten minutes after Wenceslao. They ascended Mt. Everest via the northern route in Tibet and descended through the southern route in Nepal.

Between 2006 and 2018, she climbed the other five highest mountains worldwide. It goes without saying that planning and preparing for these climbs was not easy. Dayondon spent most of her time training for these climbs and overcoming the challenges.

For example, when preparing for her final peak in 2017, she experienced problems with her eye. A doctor told her that she would go blind, but Dayondon continued to pursue her dreams. She trained and tested her body, including her eye, and decided that she could continue her climb. Fortunately, she achieved her goal without losing her eyesight and became the first Filipina to summit the world’s tallest peaks.

Dayondon was raised in the Philippine province of Bukidnon, the fourth of 15 children. She came from humble beginnings and enjoyed the outdoors even as a child. She was a member of the Girl Scouts in her elementary school years. When she entered college, she became a member of her university’s mountaineering society. It took her nine years to complete college because she participated in various adventure racing sports to earn money and help support her siblings. Dayondon also supported herself by working part-time jobs such as climbing instructor, salesperson, and babysitter.

Her challenging upbringing gave her the strength and resilience she needed to get to where she is now. Today, she works as a Coast Guard officer and is taking time off from climbing, although she keeps the door open to future endeavors. Of course, even while she is not actively climbing, she serves as an inspiration to Filipinos everywhere.

Despite coming from a family with limited financial means and needing to take loans out for her climbs, she remained steadfast in working towards her goals. Her story is one of grace, teamwork, and support. Dayondon shows us the importance of lifting each other up and supporting women in our society so they can go beyond what is expected and, in turn, inspire others as well.


Maya Angelou: The Power of Words

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou hardly needs an introduction. She is a beloved American author, civil rights activist, screenwriter, dancer, and poet. She is best known for her acclaimed 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the first installment of her seven-volume autobiography. For this work, she made history when it became the first non-fiction bestseller by an African-American woman.

Angelou was born as Marguerite Johnson in 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She and her brother moved to Arkansas to live with her grandmother when she was three. When she was eight years old, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. When Angelou told her uncles about what happened, they attacked and kicked the perpetrator until he died.

This incident made Angelou realize the power of words and how her speaking out about the crime brought about death. For the next five years, she stopped speaking. Her autobiography recounted, “I thought, my voice killed him; I killed that man, because I told his name. And then I thought I would never speak again, because my voice would kill anyone.”

Civil Rights Activist

After a few years, Angelou moved to San Francisco with her brother and mother. At 16, she gave birth to a son and did odd jobs to support him. Among these jobs was dancing at a nightclub. A theater group discovered her through her dancing and cast her in her first play, Porgy and Bess. This casting changed her life. She toured Europe as part of the cast, recorded her first album, and sang in an off-Broadway review.

In the late 1950s, Angelou became active in the civil rights movement. She worked with Dr. Martin Luther King as a fundraiser and organizer. In the early 60s, she moved with her son and then-partner to Africa to focus on family. There, she met and became close friends with Malcolm X.

Malcolm X convinced her to return to the US and help him with his own civil rights organization. After his and Dr. King’s later assassination, she decided to devote her energy to writing. This led to the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which brought her international fame.

Literary Powerhouse

Angelou also went on to become a renowned poet, screenwriter, and composer. One of her most famous poems is “Still I Rise,” which is about the resilience of Black people. Her screenplay for the movie Georgia, Georgia became the first produced screenplay by a Black woman. She acted on film and TV, directed theater, and wrote prolifically.

In the 1980s, She became a professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina and continued being an influential literary powerhouse. At President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration in 1993, Angelou recited her poem, “On the Pulse of Morning.”

Throughout her life, she received several honors. In 2005 and 2008, she received NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work category. She also won three Grammy Awards in the Spoken Word Album category in the 90s. Until her death, Angelou was closely associated with celebrity talk show host and publisher Oprah Winfrey. Through Oprah’s shows, they brought Angelou’s work to millions of people. Oprah considered her “my mentor, mother/sister, and friend since my 20s.”

In 2014, Maya Angelou passed away at 86 years old. She remains a beautiful inspiration and role model to women worldwide for her resilience, grace, and calm confidence. While she was not a loud or showy character, her mere presence brought unspoken strength that we can all emulate. As Oprah said, the greatest lesson that Angelou taught her was, “You are enough!” These are wise words that all women from all walks of life can live by and put into action in our lives.

Sacred Fire Creative honors women who worked to influence significant change in their world in this #WomenWhoMatter series. Do you want to be a woman who affects positive change in your community? Let’s help you make this change.


Lizzo: Award-Winning Pop Star, Body Positivity Champion

“My movement is for everybody. My movement celebrates diversity. It’s all about inclusion. It’s all about getting our flowers and giving each person their own space to be an individual and speak up for that individuality.” – Lizzo

You have to be living under a rock if you haven’t heard of Lizzo. She shot to fame in 2019 with the release of her third studio album, Cuz I Love You. While “Juice” from this album instantly became a hit, her previous songs “Truth Hurts” and “Good as Hell” quickly followed suit and counted among her most popular songs.

That same year, Time Magazine named the singer, dancer, and classically trained flutist “Entertainer of the Year.” And in 2020, Lizzo received eight nominations at the 62nd Grammy Awards and officially added three-time Grammy winner to her list of titles.

Hard work paid off for Lizzo.

It may seem like Lizzo skyrocketed to fame. But before her 2019 breakthrough, she spent years working her way to the top. She began rapping and performing in shows while studying flute on a music performance scholarship at the University of Houston. In her junior year, she left university to focus on her music career.

It took her ten years. She went on tours as part of a rock band and performed with girl groups. She released her debut album Lizzobangers in 2013, though it didn’t gain traction. Eventually, she got noticed by rock icon Prince. The late legend encouraged Lizzo, featured her on his Plectrumelectrum album in 2014, and helped her get exposure by asking her to perform at his parties. The rest is history.

Lizzo has become a role model for hard work and not giving up on your dreams. Her long journey showed that there’s no recipe for instant success. In 2019, she shared, “I’ve done so many tours, but nobody knows who I am until this year. But would I have been able to maintain this type of mainstream success ten years ago? Hell to the nah! I needed these ten years. I feel like a master.”

A vocal champion and critic of body positivity

Beyond her music, Lizzo is a well-known champion for body positivity. As a plus-sized woman, she continues to endure criticism for how she looks. But it doesn’t stop her from pushing the message that the body is to be celebrated regardless of its size.

For example, after facing criticism for wearing a thong dress to a Lakers game in December 2019, she took to Instagram to spread this message of self-acceptance: “Who I am, and the essence of me, and the things that I choose to do as a grown-ass woman, and the things I choose to do as a grown-ass woman, can inspire you to do the same. They don’t have to be like me – you need to be like you, and never ever let somebody stop or shame you from being yourself.”

At the same time, Lizzo doesn’t hesitate to call out the body positivity movement when she feels the need. In 2020, she made headlines for saying that body positivity has become too mainstream and co-opted by smaller-sized influencers and businesses. She claimed that this development is leaving behind the fat, Black, and queer people who began the movement in the first place but are still facing ridicule. Lizzo called for people to return to the roots of body positivity, support the people who started it, and stop discriminating against them.

Lizzo is an excellent example of what hard work, dedication, and focus can achieve. She could have given up on music in the decade it took her to get to the top. But she took her time and didn’t stop. And thanks to her message of body positivity, more young women worldwide are encouraged to become more confident in their own bodies and showcase what makes them unique.

 Sacred Fire Creative honors women who are making a difference in our world. Are you an entrepreneur who wants to make a difference in your own community? Work with us, and we can help you achieve it.


Miriam Defensor-Santiago: The Iron Lady of Asia

“What is the meaning of life? This meaning is not for you to find, but for you to define. The meaning of life is found in the purposes that we pursue as we grow older.” — Miriam Defensor-Santiago

Miriam Defensor-Santiago is well-known in Philippine politics for her intelligence, courage, and memorable quotes. While she ran twice for president and never won, she remained a consistent and active figure in politics who made a lasting mark on the Filipino people’s hearts and minds. She passed away in September 2016 from lung cancer, months after a second bid for the Philippine presidency. 

Defensor-Santiago was born in 1945, the eldest of seven children of a local judge and college dean in Iloilo City, Philippines. Her parents’ occupations were a precursor to what Santiago would become later on in her accomplished life. From an early age, her parents instilled the value of education. She later said that she and her siblings were raised to be “very bright people and it’s a great disappointment to all our ancestors if we did not live up to the family standards.”

After finishing high school and college as valedictorian in Iloilo City, she continued her stellar educational performance at the University of the Philippines College of Law in Manila. She continued showcasing her intelligence and wit by winning debates and oratorical contests. Defensor-Santiago was also the first female editor of the college newspaper.

Upon completing her law degree, she pursued her Masters of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science from the University of Michigan, which is considered one of the best law schools in the United States. Defensor-Santiago also finished a Master of Arts in Religious Studies at the Maryhill School of Theology. Aside from this, she also studied at Oxford and Harvard law schools. Her impressive educational background served as further evidence of her brilliant mind. She made the most of her education when she entered the world of Philippine politics.

From lawyer to judge to Senator, Defensor-Santiago worked in all three branches of the Philippine government – judicial, executive, and legislative. She served as a judge at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, an immigration commissioner and cabinet member, and a three-term senator. She was a popular mainstay in Philippine politics, especially when she spoke openly about corruption, injustice, and inefficiencies she saw around her.

More than just a powerhouse politician, Defensor-Santiago was also a wife, mother, and grandmother. Her biggest personal heartbreak came when one of her two sons took his own life in 2003. While she never got over his death, she continued her work in politics and law. In 2012, she became the first Filipino and Asian judge of the International Criminal Court. She also continued her work as a senator and in 2016, ran again for the presidency. 

Defensor-Santiago was indeed a female icon for the 21st century, earning the nickname the “Iron Lady of Asia,” even when most Asian women were happy to be behind the scenes. Her intellect, accomplishments, and outspokenness make her an extraordinary role model to the youth, who continue to look up to her today. Defensor-Santiago’s incredible ability to rise above personal tragedy and continue working as a public servant to serve others is also vital to this great woman’s legacy.

Sacred Fire Creative honors women who left a lasting legacy in this #WomenWhoMatter series. Do you want to be a woman who matters? Let’s collaborate to create a meaningful digital marketing strategy for your business.


Dolores Huerta: Labor Leader and Feminist Icon

“My mother was a dominant force in our family. And I always see her as the leader. And that was great for me as a young woman because I never saw that women had to be dominated by men.” – Dolores Huerta

Dolores Huerta is a labor leader, civil rights activist, and feminist. Though many know her as the co-founder of the labor union United Farm Workers, Dolores has dedicated her life to pushing forward the rights of workers, women, and immigrants, first in California and later throughout the US. She is credited for popularizing the phrase “Si, se puede” or “Yes, we can,” a motto that former US President Barack Obama later adopted. At 92, she still actively fights for her causes through the Dolores Huerta Foundation.

Dolores was born in New Mexico on April 10, 1930, to Juan Fernandez and Alicia Chavez. Her parents divorced when she was three years old. Her mother then took her and her two brothers to live in a farming community in Stockton, California.

A Strong Woman’s Influence

Dolores’ father was a farm worker and coal miner who later became a union leader and state legislator in New Mexico. But it was her mother that influenced and inspired her to become an advocate for workers’ rights. Alicia Chavez supported her young family by working as a waitress and a cannery worker. Through hard work, she was able to buy a 70-room hotel and restaurant.

Dolores saw her mother as a community leader known for her compassion and generosity. Her mother often let immigrant farm workers and their families stay in her hotel for free. Through Alicia, Dolores learned that working toward equality and social justice without resorting to violence is possible. Her views were also shaped by the marginalization and gender bias she experienced as a young Hispanic woman.

In the 1950s, Dolores earned her teaching credentials from the University of the Pacific’s Stockton College and began work as an elementary school teacher. But when she saw so many farm children arriving hungry at school, she realized she could do more to help by organizing farm workers and farmers. She then left her teaching job and embarked on her lifelong crusade for workers’ rights.

A Life of Activism

In 1962, Dolores co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) with Cesar Chavez. The organization was the predecessor of United Farm Workers (UFW). UFW became prominent in the 1960s because of its involvement in the Delano grape strike. This five-year strike led to significant positive changes to California farm workers’ rights and welfare. Dolores later helped organize similar boycotts throughout the US in the 1970s. Through these boycotts, she helped create a national awareness and climate that led to the passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975. This was the first law that recognized the rights of California farmworkers to begin bargaining collectively for better wages and working conditions.

Dolores faced ethnic and gender bias throughout her life. Until 2018, she was the only woman to sit on the UFW board. In the 1960s, while traveling to New York City to promote the boycott against California table grapes, Dolores met noted feminist Gloria Steinem. She began to take a feminist approach to her activism after the meeting and shone a spotlight on the rights of women workers. In turn, Dolores influenced Steinem to expand the feminist movement to include issues faced by women of color.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Dolores championed women’s issues and worked to have more Latinos and women elected to political office. She notably endorsed Hillary Clinton’s presidential nomination in 2007 and served as honorary co-chair of the 2017 Women’s March on Washington in protest of the then-newly inaugurated president Donald Trump.

While her work kept her busy, Dolores raised a brood of 11 children. One son, Emilio Huerta, became a lawyer and politician. Her youngest daughter, Camilla Chavez, works as executive director for the Dolores Huerta Foundation.

No Signs of Slowing Down

Dolores received many honors and accolades for her advocacies. In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded her the inaugural Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award. In 2012, President Barack Obama gave her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She has numerous schools and an asteroid named after her. She was also a board member of the Feminist Majority Foundation and the Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus of the United Farm Workers Association of America.

Despite her age, Dolores shows no signs of slowing down. She now works primarily through the Dolores Huerta Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to “inspire and organize communities to build volunteer organizations empowered to pursue social justice.” It has done this and much more. In 2015 at 85 years old, Huerta said, “As long as I have the energy and health, I am going to do as much as I can.”

Sacred Fire Creative honors exemplary women who worked to change the world in our series #WomenWhoMatter. Work with us to create exemplary changes in your own sphere of influence.


Sofia Ionescu-Ogrezeanu: First Female Neurosurgeon

“This operation changed my life for the next 47 years, as I became a neurosurgeon, turning 180 degrees away from what I had chosen for myself before, the quiet life of an internist in my hometown.” – Sofia Ionescu-Ogrezeanu

 Few people are familiar with the name Sofia Ionescu-Ogrezeanu. Despite this, she holds a unique position in history. In 1944, when female doctors were relatively rare, she became the first female neurosurgeon in the world. She was only 24 years old.

Dr. Ionescu-Ogrezeanu was born in România on April 25, 1920. She decided to pursue becoming a doctor after one of her best friends died from an infection after brain surgery. Although female physicians were not the norm then, her mother supported her decision. She studied medicine in Bucharest between 1939 and 1945. At first, she planned to specialize in ophthalmology. However, the beginning of World War II would change this and the rest of her life.

During the war and between semesters, she volunteered to care for injured Soviet soldiers in Stamate Hospital in Fălticeni, Romania. There, she gained experience doing surgical operations, usually limb amputations that were common at the time. In 1943, she began work as an intern at Bucharest’s Hospital Nr. 9.

The following year, an 8-year-old comatose boy came in with severe injuries sustained in a bombing. Because of the war, the hospital was short-staffed, and Dr. Ionescu-Ogrezeanu had to perform emergency brain surgery on the boy herself. This operation transformed her life and officially made her the world’s first female neurosurgeon.

She spent the next 47 years of her life at Hospital Nr. 9, working as a surgeon. She was also part of the first neurological team in Romania that would later be known as “The Golden Neurosurgical Team.” Dr. Ionescu-Ogrezeanu performed all neurosurgical procedures available at the time. This exceptional team helped develop neurosurgery in Romania and had a lasting impact on the country’s healthcare system.

Dr. Ionescu-Ogrezeanu received many accolades and distinctions during her life as a doctor. She received the Red Cross Distinction Mark for her work and dedication early in her career. The World Health Organization also declared Dr. Sofia Ionescu-Ogrezeanu a hero, together with 65 other doctors who achieved exceptional marks in the medical profession. Dr. Ionescu-Ogrezeanu was also recognized and appreciated by her country and received the highest honor bestowed on a Romanian citizen, the Star of the Republic.

She died at 88 in Bucharest after many years of serving and caring for patients. Her influence opened many doors to medicine and neurosurgery for female doctors. While she may not be well-known outside the field of medicine, her global impact is undeniable.

Dr. Sofia Ionescu-Ogrezeanu’s passion for medicine and courage to do what no woman had done before her paved the way for other female doctors to pursue careers in neurosurgery. Her recognition as the world’s first female neurosurgeon inspires all women, not just doctors, worldwide.

Sacred Fire Creative honors women who have achieved the exceptional in their line of work in the series #WomenWhoMatter. Aspiring to achieve the exceptional in your business? Let’s work together to make your aspiration a reality.


Alicia Garza: Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter

“Change does not occur without backlash–at least any change worth having–and that backlash is an indicator that the change is so powerful that the opposing forces resist that change with everything they have.” – Alicia Garza

In 2013, a Black-centered political movement was born called Black Lives Matter. The movement started after George Zimmerman was acquitted for the death of Trayvon Martin the year before. Alicia Garza, along with Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, was one of its founders. Since then, Black Lives Matter has transformed into a national movement dedicated to fighting racism and anti-Black violence.

While she is most well-known for helping transform Black Lives Matter from a hashtag into an international network, Alicia Garza was already an activist, strategist, and organizer. She has spent more than half her life bringing change to society through different venues. Alicia is also the host of the political commentary podcast “Lady Don’t Take No” and a co-founder of Supermajority. This voting advocacy hub brings women together as a political force transcending race, age, and background.

With over twenty years of experience as a strategist and organizer, Alicia decided to share her personal story through the book “The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart.” Here, she shares her experiences as an activist and beacon for change. The book focuses on sharing her story as an organizer and offers new perspectives to guide a new generation of young adults who want to change the world. Alicia describes the book as the book she would have liked to read when she started as a young organizer.

Alicia wears many hats – organizer, activist, author, podcast host, and more. However, her goal in all her endeavors remains the same – to bring change to the world around her. While she continues to advocate for change, she understands that there is still much to be done. She also understands that she is one person, and more than bringing change on her own, her role is to inspire others around her to work on transforming the world.

She shares, “For a long time, I did this work but wasn’t really hopeful about change. It sounds counterintuitive in some ways, but it happens to a lot of people, actually. You have to believe that change can happen if you are going to be a part of making change. That doesn’t mean we don’t hurt, that we don’t despair, that there isn’t grief—there is all of that. But there also must be a belief that we, too, can make the change we long for. It must be the thing that wakes us up in the morning, the thing we fall asleep thinking about.”

Alicia Garza is a true inspiration, not just for Black women, women, or Black people exclusively. She inspires people worldwide, regardless of race, gender, or nationality. Her dedication to bringing much-needed change and leaving the world a better place encourages others to do the same. How Alicia inspires others around her is her legacy, and this is the welcome impact she makes on society.

Sacred Fire Creative honors women who work to change the world in this #WomenWhoMatter series. If you want to create a lasting, positive impact on your tribe through your business, work with us.


Serena Williams: The GOAT of Women’s Tennis

“I don’t like to lose – at anything – yet I’ve grown most not from victories, but setbacks.” – Serena Williams

If you have access to TV or the Internet, you know who Serena Williams is. She is only one of the greatest tennis players of all time. In 2002, when she was only 21 years old, Serena was named the world’s number 1 singles tennis player by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Since then, she has gone on to win 23 Grand Slam singles titles, second only to the record of Australian tennis player Margaret Court.

Serena is known for her powerful style of play and excellent athleticism. She started her tennis career playing on public tennis courts in Los Angeles with her father. In 1995, she turned professional, one year after her equally famous sister Venus. In 1999, Serena won her first Grand Slam title at the US Open. Serena and Venus played as partners at the same tournament and won the doubles event. They have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together.

The living legend believes she, together with her sister, brought about significant change to the world of tennis. “We changed it from being two great Black champions to being the best ever, period. And that’s what we did. We took out color and just became the best. Records are proof, and that’s what it is,” she said in an interview.

No doubt about it, Serena and Venus changed the face of women’s tennis. From their sheer athleticism to their standout fashion choices while playing, they created an impact on the court that will last well after they retire. They have empowered other women athletes to do better and hit harder, no matter what other people might say.

Today, Serena is the proud mom of Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., her 4-year-old daughter with her husband, Alexis Ohanian. After a rough start to motherhood, which involved an emergency C-section and four surgeries within a week of becoming a mother, Serena has settled comfortably into her role as a doting parent. Although she is still an active tennis player, she has not joined recent tournaments and spends most of her time with her daughter and other endeavors.

“Despite my body’s wreckage – and the fact that I couldn’t get in much breastfeeding – connecting with Olympia at long last was amazing. It was both the reward and the validation for all I’d been through. I went from not being able to really imagine her in the womb to us being completely inseparable. I still feel like I have to be around her every day of her life, as much as possible. I’m anxious when I’m not around her,” Serena shared.

The quote we started with seems to sum up Serena’s life. While she is known for her victories, she has learned more from setbacks and failures. For every triumph, Serena faced countless hours of practice and a number of losses before finally getting that win. Even motherhood did not come easy for her. After her initial medical issues after giving birth, she came out stronger for it and with an even stronger bond with her daughter.

If you’re looking for inspiration to power through difficult challenges, look to Serena Williams and see how a young girl playing tennis on public courts grew up and became a world-class athlete.

Sacred Fire Creative honors women who change the world in this #WomenWhoMatter series. If you want to change your world and leave a lasting, positive impact on your tribe through effective digital marketing, work with us today.


Privacy Settings
We use cookies to enhance your experience while using our website. If you are using our Services via a browser you can restrict, block or remove cookies through your web browser settings. We also use content and scripts from third parties that may use tracking technologies. You can selectively provide your consent below to allow such third party embeds. For complete information about the cookies we use, data we collect and how we process them, please check our Privacy Policy
Youtube
Consent to display content from Youtube
Vimeo
Consent to display content from Vimeo
Google Maps
Consent to display content from Google