Naomi Osaka is reminding fans of brutality against Black people in America yet again, this time with a nod to Trayvon Martin.
The tennis star wore a black face mask emblazoned with Martinβs name on it during the U.S. Open Sunday at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. Martin was an unarmed Black teenager from Florida who was fatally shot in 2012 by a neighborhood watch captain.
After her match against Estoniaβs Anett Kontaveit and subsequent win, Osaka posted a statement on Instagram about her choice to honor Martin: βI remember Trayvonβs death clearly. I remember being a kid and just feeling scared, irreverent info but I actually didnβt wear hoodies for years cause I wanted to decrease the odds of βlooking suspiciousβ. I know his death wasnβt the first, but for me it was the one that opened my eyes to what was going on. I remember watching the events unfold on tv and wondering what was taking so long, why was justice not being served. To see the same things happening over and over still is sad. Things have to change.β
Since Osakaβs first match at this the Open this year, sheβs been wearing face coverings honoring victims of racial violence in America. In an interview last week, she explained that she brought seven different masks to the tournament.
βItβs quite sad that seven masks isnβt enough for the amount of names, so hopefully Iβll get to the finals so you can see all of them,β Osaka said.
Last week, she wore one honoring Breonna Taylor, the Black Kentucky EMT who was fatally shot by police in her own home, and another for Elijah McClain, the Black man who was put in a chokehold by three white officers while he was walking home last year and subsequently died after going into a coma.
On Friday, Osaka wore another mask honoring Ahmaud Arbery, the Black man from Georgia who was fatally shot down by two white men while jogging.
Of Taylor, the 22-year-old said: βIβm aware that tennis is watched all over the world, and maybe there is someone that doesnβt know Breonna Taylorβs story. So maybe theyβll Google it. ... For me, [Iβm] just spreading awareness. ... I started off with Breonna Taylorβs name first because for me she was the most important and [Black Lives Matter] is still actively going on; there are still marches even though people donβt really talk about it.β
Days later, in talking to reporters about Arbery, Osaka said: βI would like everyone to know that it was completely avoidable β this did not have to happen. None of these deaths had to happen. I just want everyone to know the names.β
Osaka has been a very vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, withdrawing from her semifinals match in the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament last month after a series of other walkouts took the sports world by storm on the heels of the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Osaka resumed play a day later.