Sport has the capacity to transform people’s lives. The ability to promote gender equality through instilling in women and girls teamwork, self-reliance, resilience, and confidence.
Women in sports transcend gender preconceptions and social standards, serve as inspiring role models, and demonstrate equality between men and women.
Naomi Osaka is a phenomenal tennis player who is young and highly successful.
She was the face of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, lighting the flame to begin the Olympic tournament.
Osaka has launched a new media company in partnership with four-time NBA champion LeBron James aimed at telling stories about cross-cultural barriers, the former world number one announced.
Hana Kuma, which translates to “flower bear,” will produce stories that are “culturally specific but universal to all audiences” and already has multiple projects lined up, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“There has been an explosion of creators of colour finally being equipped with resources and a huge platform,” Osaka, who has a Haitian father and Japanese mother, said in a press release about her newest venture.
The production company, which is already trending in Kenya, is the latest project from the 24-year-old Osaka and her long-time agent, Stuart Duguid.
The production company will produce scripted and nonfiction content, starting with a New York Times documentary about Patsy Mink, the first woman of colour elected to U.S. Congress, according to a press release.
The announcement says Hana Kuma will highlight “empowering” and “culturally specific” stories.
But the company’s name – Hana Kuma, which has a vulgar translation in Kiswahili– has stimulated interesting emotions among Kenyans, some who find the name just séxy and hilarious and others who see the vulgarity in it.
According to Forbes, Osaka became the world’s highest-paid female athlete in 2020 by earning about $37m thanks to a long list of sponsorship deals.
In 2021 she released a Netflix documentary series depicting two years in Naomi Osaka’s life and providing insight into her home environment and career.
Only a few athletes have achieved this award before her, but Osaka is rightfully among them.
At the age of 20, she became the first Japanese woman to win a Grand Slam championship when she won the US Open. She is also the first Asian woman to be rated number one in the world in tennis.
Despite her young age, she was the highest-paid athlete in 2020, owing mostly to ad and sponsorship money.
She advocates against racism and discrimination and has made her political involvement known on social media as well as on the tennis court, particularly during US tournaments.
