The beliefs, convictions and frustrations have been there for years, percolating. Sometimes they went unspoken. Sometimes they were articulated in measured tones. There was no yelling, at least not in public.
In 2020, Simone Manuel is raising her voice.
“I feel in the past, I used my platform,” she told Sports Illustrated. “But not loudly.”
Always proud. Now, loud and proud.
Manuel’s increased volume has coincided with a particularly acute moment in America, and the result is a powerful alchemy. An articulate, 23-year-old gold medalist who will be one of the marquee faces in Tokyo next summer—if there is an Olympics next summer—has a multi-layered message she is shouting out on social media and elsewhere.