Serena Williams speaks out about police brutality

Tennis star Serena Williams took to Facebook late on Tuesday to speak out about how every African American, even famous ones, have cause to fear police violence. She said she realized while her 18-year-old nephew was driving her to a meeting, she became very nervous at the sight of a patrol car.

"I remembered that horrible video of the woman in the car when a cop shot her boyfriend…I would never forgive myself if something happened to my nephew. He's so innocent. So were all 'the others.'"

The woman Williams was referencing is the girlfriend of Philando Castile, who was shot in front of his partner and her four-year-old daughter by a police officer at a traffic stop. Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, live-streamed the incident on Facebook, showing Castile being shot several times after the policeman asked for his driver's license.

"Why did I have to think about this in 2016?" Williams asked, adding a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr that reads: "There comes a time when silence is betrayal."

Williams: Bad apples ruining the bunch

The 22-time Grand Slam winner made it clear that she was not against the police in general, but rather "the ones that are ignorant, afraid, uneducated and insensitive" that are "affecting millions and millions of lives."

With Charlotte, North Carolina still reeling from the death of Keith Lamont Scott, more and more prominent voices are joining the protestors asking for US police forces to do some soul-searching about how they recruit and train officers.

Williams also has her own reasons to be cautious about gun violence. In 2003, her older half-sister Yetunde Price, who acted as personal assistant to her famous younger sisters Venus and Serena, was accidentally killed in a gang-related drive-by shooting in Compton, outside of Los Angeles, in which police believe her boyfriend was the intended target.