The terror that has gripped black America in the wake of video after video of police shooting unarmed black citizens dead hasn't skipped the likes of Serena Williams.
The tennis champion has spoken out about the very personal effect this violence has had on her and her family, in a powerful Facebook post on Tuesday.
In the post, Williams declared that she would no longer remain silent on the issue. It came after a moment of realisation she had while driving around with her 18-year-old nephew at the wheel.
"Today I asked my 18-year-old nephew (to be clear he's black) to drive me to my meetings so I can work on my phone #safteyfirst," she wrote.
"In the distance I saw cop on the side of the road. I quickly checked to see if he was obliging by the speed limit. Than I remembered that horrible video of the woman in the car when a cop shot her boyfriend. All of this went through my mind in a matter of seconds. I even regretted not driving myself.
"I would never forgive myself if something happened to my nephew. He's so innocent. So were all 'the others'."
Williams then realised how ridiculous it is that the sight of a police car should send someone like her, and her law-abiding nephew, into a panic.
"Why did I have to think about this in 2016? Have we not gone through enough, opened so many doors, impacted billions of lives? But I realized we must stride on- for it's not how far we have come but how much further still we have to go."
Finally, quoting Martin Luther King, Williams added that she looked at herself and decided she must do her bit with her platform to speak out.
"What if I have a son and what about my daughters? As Dr. Martin Luther King said 'There comes a time when silence is betrayal'. I won't be silent."
The post has gathered 75,000 likes and has been shared more than 12,000 times.
