As 2017 blessed Serena Williams with virtually every pivotal, life-changing experience a person could fit into one year, one very important person was missing as she announced her engagement to Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and got married in a private ceremony before an intimate gathering of friends and relatives.
Regrettably absent from these joyous moments was her older sister, Yetunde Price, whose life was cut tragically short at the age of 31 when she was killed in a drive-by shooting in Compton, California. That fateful event happened on Sept. 14, 2003, and 14 years later, both Serena and her sister, legendary tennis star, Venus Williams continues to grapple with the devastating loss.
According to The Undefeated, Venus recently revisited the horrific moment while speaking on a panel moderated by ESPN’s Jemele Hill at the “A Family Affair, Presented by Oath,” empowerment event held at the Williams Arena at the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center in Washington, D.C. on Saturday afternoon. Wiping tears from her eyes as she spoke, Serena talked about how her family had been personally affected by violence.
"We lost our sister – she was the oldest — to violence. But I think what people don’t realize is how violence really affects not only your family, but your friends, your neighbors,” she said. As Serena paused to gather herself, Venus stepped in to comfort her, continuing, "Maybe I can help her continue,” Venus said. “Violence not only affects the victim’s family but also the family of the perpetrator. It ruins their lives as well. If you’re a mother or father, it’s not your plan to have your child commit this. It ruins lives. I think one of the hardest days of all of our lives was having to tell our sister’s children what happened to their mom. You can’t prepare for that.”
The two women went on to share stories about how violence and drive-by shootings were the norm on their way to becoming tennis superstars.
“I remember one afternoon there was a drive-by and we hit the ground. Guy got off the sunroof and started shooting, and we went back to practice. Our dad didn’t want us to keep secrets in our family, so he didn’t tell us not to tell our mom, and so we went home and we were so young and we didn’t understand the gravity of it all, thank God…My mom was just so upset. So upset. But unfortunately sometimes as a young person, you can get used to that. And no one should have to get used to that,” Venus said. “And hopefully we’re able to, step-by-step, do things to change that in the community. And the times that we cannot change it, what we want to do is to remember the person that has passed. And that’s what's so beautiful about the Yetunde Price Resource Center. We couldn’t have prepared for this, but now there is something beautiful coming out of it.”
The panel capped off a day of empowerment, festivities and tennis-playing where the sisters hit a few balls with local young people. All of the benefits went to benefit the Yetunde Price Resource Center, which is based in Compton.
