Black Lives Matter: Serena Williams White Husband Resigns From His Job

Jun 6, 2020 12:00 PM

Alexis Ohanian, husband to tennis superstar Serena Williams, has resigned from his position on the board of reddit.

Alexis  co-founded the social media company Reddit, with his friend Steve Huffman in 2005 before selling it in 2006 for $200 million, now Reddit is worth $3 Billion.

Ohanian, who is married to Serena Williams and has a  daughter with her, took to Instagram to announce his decision and said he wants his daughter to grow up in a more equal world.

He also said that he told the Reddit board of directors to replace his seat with  a black person. 

He wrote on Instagram: "I co-founded @reddit 15 years ago to help people find community and a sense of belonging.

It is long overdue to do the right thing. I'm doing this for me, for my family, and for my country. I'm saying this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks, 'What did you do?' I have resigned as a member of the reddit board, I have urged them to fill my seat with a black candidate."

Alexis, who is reported to be worth well over $70 million has pledged to donate $1 million to support Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights Camp, a non-profit organization dedicated to the liberation of black communities through "education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilisation".

He added in the lengthy post: "I will use future gains on my Reddit stock to serve the black community, chiefly to curb racial hate, and I'm starting with a pledge of $1m to @kaepernick7's @yourrightscamp ... I believe resignation can actually be an act of leadership from people in power right now. To everyone fighting to fix our broken nation: do not stop. (sic)"

Steve Huffman, the chief executive of Reddit posted in  a blog this week that the social media platform was looking at what it can do to give more people a voice and be a movement for change in the fight for racial justice

"We work for this platform because we care deeply about community and belonging," Mr Huffman said.

"But community and belonging are not possible without safety from violence, and now is the time to stand in solidarity with the Black members of our communities."