The first time I heard about Black Girls Rock! I have to admit, I was like, okay what’s that about? However, listening to Beverly Bond talk about her dream and vision for your black girls, this is a great and innovative idea. There is more to being a black woman than the booty shaking ‘hottie’ beamed around the globe. Black Girls Do Rock, from the boardroom to the bedroom and its not all about the flesh we see in music videos. We are smart, intelligent, creative, caring and nurturing. We are mothers, sisters, business women, CEOs, COOs, artist, teachers, writers, entrepreneurs…we are so much more than scantily clad girls, shaking their booties like their lives depend on it.
In the clip below, an interview with MSNBC News, you can hear Bond talk about the images of black women who serve as props in music videos, an image promoted by a minority, yet it is used to define the majority…
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We are black women and we are proud. We are not for sale and we refuse to be cheapened by the bling or the dollar. We are black women, we know ourselves, respect who we are and we are proud to be where we are. Yes, some of us have it all twisted and this could be due to many of life’s circumstances but we are not all like that. We are individuals with different journeys and would appreciate if you don’t use the same carrot stick to measure all of us, from our looks to our attitudes. There are many of us who believe in aiming higher than being a video vixen or becoming a thug’s baby mother. We believe in getting our education right, doing our jobs with excellence, respecting and nurturing our men, taking good care of our children and families, contributing to our communities as well as helping others. We are willing and we are able to make life work for us. We create opportunities and we run with the dream…the least you can do is show a little RESPECT, celebrate us and celebrate with us.
In a different interview with ABC News, Bond talks about why she decided to put the programme together. It is time to build up the next generation of young black women. We must let them know their best gift is not realised when their back is on the bed. They can be creative and productive. We are more than baby mothers with no baby fathers…
Music Vidoes from Black Girls Rock! Inaugural Awarad Ceremony…
Kelly Price, Jill Scott, Ledisi and Marsha Ambrosius’s rendition of Four Women is out of this world. Nina Simone would have been proud. How ironic that when Nina Simone first released this record, it received such bad press, radio stations refused to play it…life is full of ironies…Four Women is a song open to many interpretations and in a funny way, the stereotypes of black women today are not so far from what Simone was talking about, just a different generation with different ideologies…go figure…
When you see Fantasia taking the shoes off, then you know you are in for a real treat!!
Keyshia Cole, you do have to remember your good days, bad days and the nights when you tasted your own tears…its only for a while, there are good times ahead…
Keri Hilson, you can say that again sista, every women has a breaking point and for sure, there is a limit to my love…it does not include disrespect or abuse…
Jill Scott looks good and she is living her life like its Golden. How are you going to live yours???
Ladies, it is time to sit up and do right by our girls. They need good examples and we need to build them up. A Masters Degree with a ‘ghetto attitude’ is of no use to them. Be the change you want to see and they will follow you. Let’s get empowered, so, we can empower our daughters, sisters, nieces, neighbour’s daugther and every young girl we come in contact with.
Black Girls Rock! I rock, you rock, let’s rock this life together and do great things.
