Yesterday we learned that the Simone Biles made the choice to withdraw from this week’s final individual competition at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The cited reason? Simone is prioritizing her mental health and rest. ❤️ Earlier in June Naomi Osaka made the courageous decision to withdraw from the French Open, she stated she needed to prioritize her mental health first. 🦋 Both women have faced unnecessary scrutiny, held to rigorously high standards, bullying from the media, and for Simone, she is a survivor of S.A. - all the while she is expected to perform at her best at the Olympics during a pandemic. Simone, Naomi, and ShaCarri, All deserve to prioritize their mental health and well-being without being villainized for doing so. There’s so much talk about self care and the commercialization of it, but when women of color who happen to be athletes try to do so, they get judged for their personal choices. It’s not okay to judge anyone for how they take care of themselves. Additionally, Social media platforms need to be doing a better job of removing cyber bullying, hate speech, and violence on their platforms. At the end of the day the prolific athletes are human too. There is enough pressure on them to perform, no one has any right to belittle or expect more from them on any platform. We HIGHLY recommend you read the informative piece by @candacedbuckner on the Washington Post tiled: “For exceptional Black women like Simone Biles, greatness is never enough” As always, We stand in solidarity with Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, and ShaCarri Richardson. #westandwithsimone #westandwithnaomi #supportwomenofcolor #prioritizeyourmentalhealth (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CR4JuiWLCUN/?utm_medium=tumblr
