LAS VEGAS — Former Gonzaga guard Nigel Williams-Goss has repeatedly called his mom his hero.
The world learned why this weekend.
"I think we were both a little bit surprised to the reaction and reception to the article," said Nigel of the story his mom wrote Yahoo.com. "Obviously people really gravitated towards your words."
"I really only know the reception I've had based on the phone calls and texts I've had of people wanting to know more information, which is great because that's really what I wrote the article for," said Valerie, who is also a therapist who's done extensive work with interracial couples and biracial children.
The article focused on several topics, but perhaps the most overarching one was Valerie realizing early on she had to use her voice to stand up against racism against her black nuclear family.
"What I've found is that it's better to speak up when they're not around because for whatever reason then I can be heard," said Valerie of standing up for her black and brown family against racism. "When they're there it's almost like everything goes against all of us. So when I can speak up and say what I have to say, I don't worry about what the response will be because it will just be at me."
Nigel has always been vocal about activism, just like his mother. There's a reason why.
"I've tried to do my part as a minority, as an athlete, with a platform to try to break those stereotypes and say, 'Hey, look, you can be a minority, you can be an athlete, you can be a scholar athlete, you can be outspoken and well spoken.' Just trying to do my part as much as I can to shine a positive light on the minority community, but I think there needs to be a lot more change than a few of us having to lead by example," said Nigel.
The point of Valerie's words though is that Nigel shouldn't have to worry about breaking stereotypes. They shouldn't exist, and they definitely shouldn't impact how he, or anyone else, is treated by the police.
"Really what my whole article was about is that it shouldn't be up to the Nigel's of the world to talk about the fact that this is about police brutality and that police do kill African-American men and women at a much higher rate than they're killing anyone," said Valerie. "If we don't look at it for what it really is, if people like you and I, not Nigel, just listen to people say, 'Oh, it happens to everyone,' then we're part of the problem because no, it doesn't happen to everyone."
Nigel ended our conversation with the thing he wants people to think about.
"We've all heard treat others how you want to be treated. If you can ask yourself, 'Would I be okay with my white child being pulled over and killed? Would I be okay with my white child running down the street being shot and filmed? Would I be okay with something so minute, so small, such a small infraction, sending him to jail for 15 years, for 20 years where somebody else would get off with maybe probation?' Just ask yourself would I want that done to me or someone else who I love. And if not, let's try to fight for those that it's happening to."