"I felt empowered, seeing 'Black Lives Matter' and 'No Justice, No Peace'... to be a part of it, I felt powerful and I felt inspired"
Monday 8 June 2020 09:40, UK
Claressa Shields says she felt empowered after speaking at a Black Lives Matter protest, and insists: "Enough is enough".
The three-weight world champion addressed crowds in her home city of Flint, Michigan, last weekend, as protests continued against inequality towards the black community.
They have been sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in police custody in Minneapolis last month.
Shields says she was not planning to even attend the protest in Flint, but felt "inspired" having done so.
She told Sky Sports News: "The experience was unexpected. I was just going down the highway with one of my friends. We saw a protest and were like, 'let's just go'. I just wanted to be a part of it.
"Me speaking and everything - I wasn't even prepared for any of that. But I felt empowered, seeing 'Black Lives Matter' and 'No Justice, No Peace', and having people from all different backgrounds agree.
"I never thought the world would make it back to this place, where everybody is together. We matter. We don't matter more, we don't matter less - we just matter as much as the next person matters.
"To be a part of it; I felt powerful and I felt inspired."
The footage of Floyd's arrest showed a police officer kneeling on his neck, despite him repeatedly saying that he could not breathe.
Four police officers have since been charged in connection to Floyd's death, and Shields says the shocking footage has demonstrated to everybody why the treatment of the black community needs to be addressed.
"Enough is enough, that's what I think," she said. "Being able to see George Floyd in the flesh, on camera, take his last breath, and then also call for his mother, I think reminded everybody that regardless of how they think of us as black people, we've still got mothers.
"We're still a brother to somebody, we're still a sister. I think that him being just so scared and having to call for his mum, I think that made other mothers of other races in other countries, look at it like 'wait'.
"I think it made sense to them then that we're all equal, we all come from a mother."
Shields also praised Drew Brees for "educating himself" after the New Orleans Saints quarterback apologised for his controversial comments regarding the protests.
Brees said he would "never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag", in reference to protesters kneeling during the American anthem - a symbol popularised by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick.
However, Brees has since apologised, and even urged Donald Trump to "address the problems" facing the black community after the US president backed the players' original comments.
Shields said: "Drew Brees - I'm a fan of his. [He] thought kneeling was disrespecting the flag, but it wasn't. That's how unaware he was.
"I don't think he's a racist or a bad guy; I think he had to educate himself. Now that he's educated, he won't take kneeling to the flag as disrespectful. He'll understand it's for the racial injustice of black people getting killed by the police.
"So thank you for getting some awareness, and now he can play a part to make it all better."
