The 2024 Olympics was a source of much joy this year for USA medalists, bringing home 127 medals in total, of which 40 were GOLD! Thanks to Essence Magazine, we have a rundown of the 14 Black women who brought home the gold.
Black women from around the globe shattered Olympic ceilings yet, not all of them received love from their home country. Italian-born Nigerian volleyball player Paola Egonu spurred the Italian women’s first-ever gold medal, but in Rome, where a mural in her honor was defaced, not even her gold medal could stop the racist backlash.
The mural created by artist Laika, was vandalized soon after it was unveiled. The image of an airborne Egonu spiking volleyball with the words Stop Racism was painted over changing Egonu’s skin from Black to pink, and completely whiting out the words.
The mural, called Italianita was the artists’ response to hateful attitudes toward Egonu by European parliament member Roberto Vannacci who wrote that “even though Egonu was Italian by citizenship, her physical features did not represent Italianness.”
These views toward Egonu are not new. Egonu previously took a break from membership in the national volleyball team in 2022, after being on the receiving end of racist online abuse lodged at her after she participated in Italy’s defeat of Brazil in the World Championship. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Egonu speaks to her determination to be an example for future generations, despite the treatment she has had to withstand.
Black women are winning all over the world for sure. Yet, the trauma of being the best is often displayed in the outright hate that Black women around the globe face, and still, they win!
The original mural before being defaced.
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