If you haven’t seen Serena Williams’ act on the hallowed courts of Wimbledon, you may have missed a seminal moment in the history of sport, dare I say the world. We talked about it on RAW last Saturday.

After destroying Maria Sharapova to win the gold medal in the Olympics and complete her career “Golden Slam” (all 4 majors and an Olympic gold), she celebrated with the infamous “Crip Walk”, a dance popularized by the also infamous Los Angeles gang known as “The Crips”.  If you haven’t seen the video or if you’ve never heard of the Crip Walk then stop down real quick and Google it.  It may have started as a “gang” dance but it has since pervaded society and reached far beyond its origin.  I’ve heard of white girls from Tennessee breaking out the Crip Walk (fellow RAW host Krystina Ramey).  And so, when a girl from the hood found herself on Centre Court with no “Royals” in the box that she was required to bow to, she was finally able to make a statement about the relevance of Los Angeles’s inner city in that bastion of high society that is Wimbledon and on the largest world stage for athletics: The Olympic Games.

She has been alternately excused and blistered for her choice.  Many say it is not a big deal and Serena shouldn’t have to take so much heat.  Others say it was a mistake.  Still others are angry and disgusted at her behavior.  I, however, think she should be lauded for her celebration.  This is her culture we are talking about.  This is where she grew up.  This was not some attempt to glorify gang violence, merely an opportunity to share her culture with the world.  In other words: to represent.  Isn’t that what the Olympics are all about?  Aren’t we all supposed to open ourselves to the different cultures around the world and applaud them for what they have achieved?

Serena grew up around gangs and violence and her dance showed the entire world where she is from.  She is strong, outspoken, competitive, smart, successful, beautiful, confident and capable.  More significantly though, she is a CHAMPION on every stage her sport has to offer.  She has beaten the best and proven that she is among the greatest tennis players who have ever lived.  Doing that dance pays homage to her roots and reminds us that she isn’t all of these things despite the neighborhood she grew up in, she is all these things because of the neighborhood she grew up in.  And that she is proud to be a product of that environment.  That is who she is and I applaud her for embracing her culture when so many might choose to discard it in order to conform to the expectations of “high class” society.

Serena is real.  She doesn’t pretend and she doesn’t compromise. Her life story is a specific example that teaches the American axiom; anyone can be successful no matter where you were born or raised.  I think it is appropriate that she represents that American value at the Olympics.  She is an inspiration and I hope her Crip Walk celebration is seen by as many people around the world as possible.  Go Serena, show the world who you are!