Oh Serena Williams, you never cease to amaze me. It’s really quite amazing that Serena has accomplished so much in her career. We all know that the caliber of her tennis game is something we may never see again, complete dominance on all surfaces. Including Olympic Gold. Yet, she continues to keep controversy in the balance of her career.
We all remember the US Opens that Serena laid on the attitude pretty thick to the umpires. Then of course is the selective schedule and “phantom injuries” and pull out of tournaments (even when ahead). Her post match celebration falls again in the lap of controversy.
Serena Williams’ 2012 Olympic gold medal was another showing of just how much of a force she is. With a 6-0, 6-1 beating over Maria Sharapova, Serena captured her first singles gold medal (holds 3 doubles gold medals). Right after the match and before any announcement, Williams showed the world just how “happy” she was to win gold…with this:
No, there actually was not Dr. Dre music in the background nor did the dance last that long (it’s on a loop); it was however, a “Crip Walk.” This walk, or dance, is considered to be associated with the the Los Angeles gang, the Crips.
According to the Wikipedia page, the Crip Walk is, “The rivalry between the Crips and the Bloods spilled over into the world of entertainment, with the adoption of the gang dance by various rappers on the West Coast of the United States, who gave it its name, the Crip Walk. It is dance invented by crip gang which involves the movement of ones feet, classically to the spelling of C-R-I-P (refer C Walk) It was used by Crips at parties to diss the Bloods. It was also used after killing someone to give the kill a Crip signature. MTV declined to broadcast any music videos that contained the Crip Walk.”
Serena Williams is not a gang member
She did grow up in Compton (was born in Michigan), where the Bloods and Crips were born. Perhaps her “happy dance” was to show the world that she grew up on the mean streets of Los Angeles and how anyone can come from a less than perfect town and reach the biggest stage of all? Or perhaps, she is just arrogant enough to not care about representing her country with a bit of class? She did say after her match, “I didn’t know what else to do. I was so happy, and next thing I know I started dancing and moving. I didn’t plan it. It just happened.”
Do I care if she dances and is joyful after winning a major event? No, not really. I think the choice of dance at this particular event was a poor choice; but really, who cares? It is kind of funny though. What do you guys think? Out of line with the crip walk or no big deal?
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