Naomi Osaka’s views on being ‘mixed race’ and the ‘BLM’ Movement
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Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, and she has often said on record that she feels ‘completely Japanese and Haitian’. Osaka feels she has taken a lot of important life lessons from her Haitian heritage. She describes Haitian people as strong, hopeful people, and also believes that Haitian’s have had to contend with a tough history.
Naomi Osaka is proud of he Japanese heritage too, and is happy that mixed race people are slowly becoming more visible in Japan.
Osaka’s parents built an elementary school in Jacmel, Haiti some twenty years back. Osaka’s father is from Jacmel, and he decided to give back to the place he comes from. Osaka too has often visited Haiti and has had many experiences as a kid. Those experiences she believes, has made her a grateful person.
Her mixed race heritage, and presence in both America and Japan. Add to that her fantastic on field performances and her being a part of generation Z. All these factors have played a part in Osaka becoming the highest earning women athlete in the world, in 2020.
Why she took a stand in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement
Osaka in the last US Open(2020) wore masks bearing the names of African American victims of police brutality. She wore a new mask everyday, and in the end she had seven names at the end of seven days. She had also visited the rally for ‘Killing of George Floyd’. Osaka believes that athletes have always, in history, taken a stand for social issues, but some like Colin Kaepernick have paid the price.
Naomi has followers and fans from all over the globe. In such a scenario, she thinks its her duty to let every one know what’s actually going on in America. She hopes that her messages encourages families to have hard conversation around this subject.
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