Serena Williams, cool, calm, and collected at the 2018 BNP Paribas Open

Serena Williams is the absolute shit! When it comes to her I’m protective as fuck as demonstrated here and here.

Oh! And here!

So of course my fandom makes me biased which is a fact I’m totally comfortable with because more often than not — those who choose to persecute her — are inspired by their own bias against women who don’t share the globally viable aesthetic as her nemesis — Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova is a world-renowned doper and the revelation and public disgrace was supposed to cost her everything — including her career and million dollar endorsement deals — but it didn’t.

Aside from the media’s delicate approach to her brutal downfall — during her 15-month suspension — Sharapova was invited to attend Harvard — which was a startling reminder of how the privileged are able to seamlessly and comfortably weather the consequences of their deplorable behavior.

Of course it doesn’t hurt that Sharapova is pretty and blonde with physical attributes that will undoubtedly give her numerous chances to redeem herself — whether she’s earned it or not.

She’s currently enjoying a triumphant return to the sport she shitted on not too long ago.

There’s no doubt that if Serena Williams had been accused of doping — she would’ve been relentlessly shamed with gusto and verbally brutalized by the press.

There wouldn’t have been any opportunities to further her scholastic prowess at formidable institutions of learning or any chances to prove her ability to make a high-stakes comeback.

The angry Black woman would’ve been stripped of her fame and fortune — and the luxury of future combative episodes with those who dare her to get heated.

Williams is presently orchestrating a comeback tour after laying low to tend to her personal life which has recently produced an impossible adorable daughter.

A viral video posted by freelance sports writer — Ben Rothenberg — shows Williams at a press conference at the 2018 BNP Paribas Open — calmly tackling a question posed by an unseen reporter who resurrects accusations of drug use.

Rothenberg apparently has a history of assigning the expected rhetoric to Williams based on her ethnicity and the fact that relying on the standard default is the laziest and surefire way to glide over the responsibility of being factual.

Rothenberg describes the exchange between Williams and the reporter as “heated” when it is anything but that — in fact Williams’ relaxed demeanor — which her hubby cutely noted — is disarmingly impressive.

At no time does she raise her voice or channel the toddler-like tantrums of iconic angry White man — John McEnroe — neither does she resort to name calling and verbal abuse like our charming Commander-in-Chief.

And she certainly doesn’t deceitfully dodge or deflect despite her glaring guilt like legendary doper — Lance Armstrong.

Yet — Williams is still unfairly characterized in ways that are familiar and demeaning not to mention insulting. If Sharapova had been in the same situation — and caught in the entanglements of a reporter’s unexpected provocations — Rothenberg would’ve most likely described Sharapova as being “blindsided” as opposed to expressing the incident as “heated.”

The media always chose to celebrate the longstanding rivalry between one of the most esteemed athletes on the planet and her less notable competitor by strategically showcasing images of the two women — that always depicted Sharapova as the demure beauty and Williams as the beast of fury.

If looks could kill…

Sharapova even wrote a book that pathetically attempts to explain how Williams’ imposing physicality intimidated her — thereby rendering her helpless and ill-equipped to aptly prove why she was worth the trouble to sponsors who were pumping a shitload of money — in her name.

When Black women speak or even move — we’re seen as “heated” because the heat is always on us.

We just can’t win.

Black men blame us for their gross insecurities and publicly try to disable our worth and White men label us inaccurately because it gives their headlines that extra boost.

But Serena Williams is flawless enough to rise above the bullshit because she’s just that good. She’s so damn amazing that the only thing to do is to pick on her physical attributes, try to soil her reputation or straight up regulate her to the most generic description — that has frankly become weightless.

It’s easy to laugh and brush it off — but it’s not so funny when you consider that Black women have died in the process of asserting themselves in ways that were logical and warranted.

Sandra Bland is a glaring example.

It’s also vital to point out how the media and those who call it home — work overtime to perpetuate and spread malice against Black women who are just as fragile and soft as their White counterparts — but somehow we are consistently treated with necessary roughness.

Long live Serena!

She’s tough enough to take it — but that doesn’t justify the never-ending taunting.

The legal harassment of Black women continues…