Black Girls Rock! Celebrating the Brilliance of Black Women

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Well the release of For Colored Girls seems to have got everyone all rilled up. Tyler Perry's latest venture which is an adaptation of the monologues by Ntozake Shange has got a lot of people all hot under the collar, judging by the comments on Mad News. Like or loathe the film one thing you cannot dispute is that For Colored Girls is a movie that tells the stories of Black sisters which is something we do not get to see very often. In fact positive images of Black women tend to be few and far between in magazines, TV and on billboard posters and this is a fact that Black Girls Rock! are trying to readdress. Black Girls Rock! is an initiative which celebrates the achievements of exceptional women of colour and the aim is to help and empower young women. Their goal is to help girls aged between 12 and 17 with their self esteem and self worth by getting them involved in arts based programs which pushes excellence.

Black Girls Rock! was founded by Beverly Bond in 2006 with the original concept of creating t-shirts which featured images of accomplished Black women. Then she decided that the project had a lot more mileage in it and came up with the idea of having workshops for young women. Beverley joined forces with BET to introduce the Black Girls Rock! event which highlights of accomplishments of Black women. The event which is in its fifth year took place on Sunday 7th November and was hosted by Nia Long with Black icons such as Missy Elliott, Chrisette Michelle, Ruby Dee, Dr. Iyanla Vanzant and Keke Palmer being honoured. There was a huge roster of exciting performers like Jill Scott, Ledisi, Marsha Ambrosius, Keri Hilson, Kelly Price, Keyshia Cole, Monica, Fantasia, VV Brown and Shontelle. Now that is what you call a proper line up. It is so great to see Black women honoured in this way and this initiative reminds me of the Why I Love Being a Black Woman scheme that Essence launched in July as well as the You're Beautiful, Woman! event that I am involved in. All amazing projects that inspire Black women.

Everyone in the UK can watch Black Girls Rock! this Saturday at 6pm on BET. However, if you cannot wait that long or if you miss it you can watch the full show here.

Check out the fabulous Beverly Bond talking about the concept of Black Girls Rock!