Serena Williams can now officially add “magazine editor” to her resumé
Serena Williams is the definition of life goals. She’s smart, beautiful, funny, and ridiculously talented. She’s won 21 Grand Slam singles titles, and is easily one of the best tennis players of all time. Earlier this year, she became the first black female athlete to grace the cover of Vogue alone. She’s a fashion designer, certified nail technician, published author, and spokeswoman for multiple brands and causes. It seems like there’s nothing Williams can’t do — and frankly, there probably isn’t.
But in case you need just a little more proof of her perfection, the all-around goddess has officially added a very different kind of title to her resumé: Magazine editor. This week, Williams announced that she’s doing double duty this month as WIRED magazine’s November cover star and guest editor — and we can’t wait to get our hands on a copy.
According to editor-in-chief Scott Dadich’s editor’s letter, the theme of this month’s issue is equality in the digital age — and we can think of few people more qualified to weigh in than Williams. In particular, the issue hopes to tackle how we can better embrace and work towards equality in the future, something the tennis star says is absolutely essential.
“That’s the reason I wanted to do this issue with WIRED — I’m a black woman, and I am in a sport that wasn’t really meant for black people. And while tennis isn’t really about the future, Silicon Valley sure is,” she writes for WIRED. “I want young people to look at the trailblazers we’ve assembled below and be inspired. I hope they eventually become trailblazers themselves.”
From what we can tell, Williams was incredibly hands on in her role as guest editor, and the issue is all the better for it. November’s WIRED stresses the importance of diversity of all kinds, and features a range of notable, outspoken figures that are working to make sure that’s the case — including Ronda Rousey and DeRay Mckesson. The issue also throws the spotlight on organizations like Black Girls Code and Gender Proud, both of which are all kinds of awesome and doing some really amazing things for young people in marginalized groups.
“With her help and guidance, we assembled a wide-ranging collection of stories — which we will be posting throughout the next few weeks — from a piece about the science fiction community to an exploration of how technology platforms shape today’s social justice movements to a roundtable on online harassment,” Dadich writes in his editor’s letter.
“Williams opened the door to an incredible range of contributors,” Dadich continues. “Their perspectives make this magazine more than just a rehashing of what we already know. We cover a changing world, after all, and nowhere are these changes more apparent than in their stories and ideas.”
The topic of “equality” has never been as essential as it is today, and we couldn’t be more excited to see Williams and WIRED tackle it together. With Williams serving as guest editor, we know for sure that the issue will be extra special.
(Images via WIRED, Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock.com.)
Serena Williams just shut down her haters in the most glorious way