<p>Sports tournaments have not only been competitive statements of physical fitness and accomplishments but also tools of social assertion and individual identity. Black salutes have been raised from Olympic podiums, and Muhammad Ali stung like a bee not only his opponents in the ring but also the white racist establishment outside it. Naomi Osaka, the American tennis star of Japanese-Black origin, also created her moment in grand slam history and in the troubled present of race relations in the US when she played with a black mask on her face throughout the US Open.</p>.<p>Every day, the mask carried the name of a black victim of a hate crime, and it is a terrible irony that one of the world’s most celebrated sports grounds, Flushing Meadows, saw the name of a young boy, 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot by the police on a playground, flashing on the face of its champion of the day, in mourning and in rebellion. </p>.<p>Naomi also proved by her game that soft-spoken, shy women can win tough and harsh games at the highest level. She came back from behind from a lost first set to take the next two with conviction and claim the final honours.</p>.<p>She had also come a long way from the weakling who withered under the boos from the stands two years ago after beating Serena Williams in her first grand slam victory. Serena, the battle-scarred black veteran, comforted her in an emotional moment in tennis lore. If she slid her visor over her face in fear or nervousness then, she slipped a mask over it in defiance now. She was declaring that she is not just a player but a black woman, too. </p>.<p>Naomi, the daughter of a Japanese mother and Haitian father, had once said she had a regret that she didn’t speak out what she was thinking. But she has evolved and is speaking and acting her mind now. She was the first among the prominent athletes to express support for the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the killings of George Floyd and others in the US.</p>.<p>Of the many identities as a player, a woman, a citizen and a black, she opted for the last on the big stage and wore it on her face in anger and protest. Sports stretches the powers of the body and the mind to the limits, and at the limits everyone is elemental. That is why Naomi’s gesture has sent out a message of elemental humanity in distress and in defiance. It was a question shot from an individual’s conscience into society's court.</p>
<p>Sports tournaments have not only been competitive statements of physical fitness and accomplishments but also tools of social assertion and individual identity. Black salutes have been raised from Olympic podiums, and Muhammad Ali stung like a bee not only his opponents in the ring but also the white racist establishment outside it. Naomi Osaka, the American tennis star of Japanese-Black origin, also created her moment in grand slam history and in the troubled present of race relations in the US when she played with a black mask on her face throughout the US Open.</p>.<p>Every day, the mask carried the name of a black victim of a hate crime, and it is a terrible irony that one of the world’s most celebrated sports grounds, Flushing Meadows, saw the name of a young boy, 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot by the police on a playground, flashing on the face of its champion of the day, in mourning and in rebellion. </p>.<p>Naomi also proved by her game that soft-spoken, shy women can win tough and harsh games at the highest level. She came back from behind from a lost first set to take the next two with conviction and claim the final honours.</p>.<p>She had also come a long way from the weakling who withered under the boos from the stands two years ago after beating Serena Williams in her first grand slam victory. Serena, the battle-scarred black veteran, comforted her in an emotional moment in tennis lore. If she slid her visor over her face in fear or nervousness then, she slipped a mask over it in defiance now. She was declaring that she is not just a player but a black woman, too. </p>.<p>Naomi, the daughter of a Japanese mother and Haitian father, had once said she had a regret that she didn’t speak out what she was thinking. But she has evolved and is speaking and acting her mind now. She was the first among the prominent athletes to express support for the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the killings of George Floyd and others in the US.</p>.<p>Of the many identities as a player, a woman, a citizen and a black, she opted for the last on the big stage and wore it on her face in anger and protest. Sports stretches the powers of the body and the mind to the limits, and at the limits everyone is elemental. That is why Naomi’s gesture has sent out a message of elemental humanity in distress and in defiance. It was a question shot from an individual’s conscience into society's court.</p>
