Serena Williams firmly believes the "gender pay gap hits women of color hardest," citing a statistic that for every time a man earns a dollar, a black woman makes just 63 cents.
Fortune magazine just published an essay by Williams in which she called for black women to "be fearless" and to "fight for every penny," citing a statistic that shows that for every time a man earns a dollar, a black woman makes just 63 cents.
"Speak out for equal pay. Every time you do, you're making it a little easier for a woman behind you," she said.
Williams also posted a picture of herself in a "Phenomenal Woman" T-shirt on Twitter on Monday – which happened to be Black Women's Equal Pay Day.
Williams believes the cycle of gender inequality is harder black women to overcome, CNN said.
"The cycles of poverty, discrimination, and sexism are much, much harder to break than the record for Grand Slam titles," Williams said, citing another statistic that "women of color have to work on average eight months longer to earn the same as their male counterparts do in one year."
"For every black woman that rises through the ranks to a position of power, there are too many others who are still struggling," she added.
Williams knows something about money. She was recently named the world's highest-paid female athlete, according to Forbes.
Williams made more than $25 million dominating women's tennis last year, but she's more focused on the male tennis players she trails on Forbes' 2017 list of the world's highest paid athletes – players like Roger Federer, Novak Djkovic, Kei Nishikori, Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray.
Williams ranked 51st on the list.
Williams, who will soon give birth to her first child, said this wasn’t the first time she's had to be a voice for issues like gender inequality.
"In every stage of my life, I've had to learn to stand up for myself and speak out," she said, per CNN.
"I have been treated unfairly, I've been disrespected by my male colleagues and — in the most painful times — I've been the subject of racist remarks on and off the tennis court."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.