Serena Williams and Common were in Chicago yesterday for Creative Minds Talks, The Art Of Storytelling at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. The 23 time Grand Slam Champion and Grammy Award-winning artist shared an honest, heartfelt discussion centered around their lives and social issues.
Many may remember Common and Williams being an item at one point and their relationship even sparked a beef between Common and Drake, but this was not a conversation hashing over a past relationship. This conversation was based on what drove these exceptional individuals to be the best at what they do.
Common from Chicago and Williams from Compton bring their cities with them on their journeys to greatness. “One thing I say that Chicago has given me that I cherish the most is the authenticity. I can go wherever in the world. I can go to Italy. I can go to Spain to Japan. I can be in meetings with Howard Schultz formerly of Starbucks or be in the hood or in a prison and I can be myself. I know how to be myself. I know how to present myself and not change that for anybody,” said Common about how Chicago helped to shape him.
The banter was easygoing and flowed from one topic to the next. Common asked Williams how she has been able to achieve balance between her career and family life. She said, “I’m still trying to find that balance. I [went] through different points in my life where [I’d] think, OK, I definitely need to take some time off and have Serena time. That was amazing. That was awesome. I was able to do that. I would play tennis and have Serena time and that was great. Then all of a sudden I got married, had a baby and then it was like, what happened to Serena time? I don’t know where that is. That is something I’m actually trying to work on.”
Williams also shared some insight on Nike’s stance regarding her and Colin Kaepernick. Check out the clip below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpi1OJ2F5aH/?taken-by=precise_chi
The honesty shared between these two was relatable and refreshing. Knowing that both of these people who are at the top of their game sometimes struggle with issues causes us to look past their celebrity and into their humanity.
