Why ‘All lives matter’ is rubbish

Naomi Osaka has won two US Open and two Australian Open titles Born to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother she has lived in the US since she was three Her fearless personality charm and ability have made her one of the most famous sports stars in the world When I say lsquotennis playerrsquo I should also say activistBecause Naomi doesnrsquot want to be labelled or restricted by her occupation When she started winning matches and tournaments she realised she had a voice She had some powerShe agreed to have a chat with me about the issues that Black people face in America and why she would continue to take a stand We got in touch after she had won her second US Open at the age of 22I am full of admiration for her stance because I know that I couldnrsquotndashand didnrsquotndashhave the wherewithal or the courage to do the same when I was that age For her though it was easy to put her head above the parapet Her attitude was lsquolet the haters hatersquoMichael HoldinglsquoWhen I got involved with spreading the BLM message did I consider there could be a backlash From fans Sponsors Irsquove been asked that question a lot and I can honestly say it was never a consideration or something that entered my headrsquoAnd there has been backlash of course A young Black woman speaking her mind and showing strength WhoaNaomi wasnrsquot always destined to be an activist She was quiet kept herself to herself Even on the tennis court And of course she is not literally tired of having these conversations about equality Shersquos having them all over She was on the front cover of Vogue She wrote an article for Esquire magazine She never ducks a question And Irsquom grateful she didnrsquot duck mine Believe me there are plenty of sports personalities with her profile you canrsquot even get close tolsquoIrsquom vocal because I believe in the movement and want to try to use my platform to facilitate change Being silent is never the answer Everyone should have a voice in the matter and use itlsquoWhat Irsquom searching for is equality For Black people to have the same chances and opportunities as everyone else But before we can even get that far we need to fix systemic racism within institutions that are supposed to protect us like the police This is a huge problem in the USA that dates back years and yearslsquoHow we change those systems is a question that I donrsquot have a precise answer for but I feel my role is to use my platform to shine a light on whatrsquos happening so that those in positions of leadership can start working on solutionsrsquoAlso ReadWTC Final Day 2 India battle on gloomy day reach 1463 before play stoppedMercy this is coming from someone just 22 years old at the timeI donrsquot think anyone has the answer and I admire the youthful curiosityndashimpatience evenndashthat Naomi has about there being something to be found or searched for There are clues to that in her personalityndashduring the lockdown she wanted to learn the guitar but she couldnrsquot get the hang of the chords quickly enough so moved on And in 2014 she hinted in that article for Esquire at her sadness that change wasnrsquot coming fast enoughlsquoBlack people have been fighting this oppression alone for so many years and progress has been fleeting at best Being ldquonot racistrdquo is not enough We have to be antiracistrsquoFor Naomi the first death that affected her deeply was that of 17yearold Trayvon Martin killed in Sanford Florida in February 2012 Trayvon had been walking home after buying food from a shop George Zimmerman a neighbourhood watch member saw him and called the police because he looked suspicious Now what is suspicious about a kid walking on the way home while eating Was it the fact that he was wearing a hoodie What if it had been a white 17yearoldWhat occurred next wouldnrsquot have happened may I suggest if he had been a white boy Zimmerman challenged Trayvon There was an altercation And Zimmerman fatally shot him Was Zimmerman quickly arrested Nope It took six weeks And that after a national campaign by Trayvonrsquos parents I wonder how long it would have taken had a Black guy shot someone in lsquoselfdefencersquo Zimmerman was acquitted at triallsquoI vividly remember when Trayvon Martin was shot and thinking Wow that could easily have been mersquo Naomi says lsquoThat was a landmark moment in my life and really opened my eyesrsquo She was fourteen at the time and only living about three hoursrsquo drive awaylsquoTo see the same things happening over and over still is sad Things have to changersquoBut it keeps happening NaomilsquoHow do we prevent this movement from becoming just another hashtag something that only pricks the consciousness when there is an outragendashhowever fleetingndashon a social media platform And how do we keep this relevant because we donrsquot want it only being important again when another tragedy happens Itrsquos tough I donrsquot think Black people can do it alone and we need allies I think what has set the movement apart this time from previously is that more people from various backgrounds have been out there marching And not just ldquoliberalrdquo and ldquoprogressiverdquo ones Irsquove seen all different types of people take to the street We need to keep shining the light as a global community I even saw marches in Japan which was super encouragingrsquoAs someone who is shall we say a little older and has seen a lot more abuse than Naomi I could easily say there is no hope but I have to agree with her sentiments regarding progress I also noticed the demographics of those marching for BLM during the summer of 2020 If you keep on highlighting it at some point therersquoll be a reaction and something will happenAnd I think people are beginning to take notice We will keep on getting incidents and we need people to keep on saying lsquoNo itrsquos got to stoprsquo Itrsquos just a matter of it taking longer than it should But if you say nothing or you do nothing nothing happens If you keep on making reference to it and you keep on doing something and saying something about it eventually action is taken Taking a knee itrsquos not difficult Itrsquos not timeconsumingBut it keeps the conversation goingThe people who want the status quo to remain those who feel threatened by Black people having equality perhaps because they think they will have less of everything money freedom opportunity and the people who believe they are superior will look for any loose thread to pick at so they can try to unravel itAn example of just the sort of attitude you often get from people when you talk about equality is this A friend of minendashan exfriend actually because I no longer seek his counselndashsaid to me after I had made my Sky speech lsquoWhy do you want to punish white peoplersquo Wow I donrsquot Black people donrsquot We just want to be treated the same way And itrsquos very interesting isnrsquot it that the idea of Black people being on the same level as white people gives rise to a feeling that somebody is being punished or dealt a bad hand One of the best placards I saw during the BLM protests addressed that very same point quite appropriately in my opinion It read lsquoIt is not a pie Equality for us doesnrsquot mean less for yoursquoFear and loathing are the root cause of it all To break it down simply there is a fear about Black people precisely because white people are terrified that we will do what they did to us if we are given half the chance lsquoWhy do you think there are even detractors against the movementrsquo Naomi asks lsquoIt seems so reasonable to me that all we want is equality I canrsquot think of any rationale A lack of education and empathy maybersquo Also ReadEuro 2020 Germany thump Portugal with thrilling 42 win to resurrect hopesEdited excerpts from Why We Kneel How We Rise by Michael Holding published by Simon and Schuster