“He Not”: Claressa Shields Responds to Dr. Umar Johnson’s Controversial Take On Hip-Hop Doing More Harm Than Good to Black Community

Making history once again, the undisputed middleweight champion, Claressa Shields, achieved a remarkable milestone by becoming the first woman to secure a seven-figure payday in her last two fights. Her latest triumph, a victory over top-ranked contender Maricela Cornejo, added another $1 million to her already mammoth earnings. The significant win took place at the home of the Detroit Red Wings and Pistons.

Shields, hailing from humble beginnings in Flint, Michigan, has transcended her past to become an accomplished boxer who commands such substantial purses. Besides boxing, she uses her fame and reach to raise concerns about ongoing problems in American society, and recently she has talked about the harm Hip-hop has done to the Black community.

Claressa Shields agrees with the views of Dr. Umar Johnson

Claressa Shields has never held herself back from voicing her opinion and this time, she had something to teach to her fellow African Americans. In her recent post on X, Shields shared a post of Dr. Umar Johnson who was talking about how  Hip-hop music did more harm than good to the Black community. He stated that rappers have not been good role models, brainwashing the young generation with “toxic content”.

On top of that, he stated that even though the European  Jews are controlling this music industry, Hip-hop artists still earn a lot of money. And not one of them has tried to do good things for their community. He said, “With the type of money Hip-hop has generated around the world, there should be at least 25 Black Wall-Streets in America right now.” Now, this video caught Shields’ attention who instantly shared it on her handle, and wrote, “He not lying.”

Moreover, a few months ago, she raised her voice for gender equality in boxing and demanded equal pay for her fellow female boxers.

Shields protests against gender inequality in boxing

Disparities in earnings between male and female boxers are starkly evident, with streaming deals proving to be 10 to 20 times more lucrative for men, as highlighted by Dmitriy Salita, Shields’ promoter. While male boxers typically command around $3 million per fight, female fighters have only recently begun to break into the seven-figure earnings for a night in the ring, with variations in pay among them.

Women boxers have already demonstrated the ability to fill sizable arenas, exemplified by Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano‘s sold-out event at Madison Square Garden. In an interview with The Associated Press, Shields remarked, “We don’t get the equal TV time, the equal promotion, equal pay. That’s what I’ve been trying to do with my platform, make sure I get all of that.”

Read More: “Will Have to Be Very Strategic”: Claressa Shields Cautions Katie Taylor Ahead of Chantelle Cameron Rematch on November 25

Safe to say, Claressa Shields has done a lot to raise social awareness and send out positive messages for her fans. What are your thoughts about this? Let us know in the comments section.

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