Black Girl Magic is an entertainment, broadcast, and apparel brand, with a TV show and podcast of the same name, created in 2014 by

Beverly Bond Beverly Bond (born December 19, 1970) is an American, author, DJ, businesswoman, philanthropist, producer, writer and former Wilhemenia model. She founded the organization Black Girls Rock! which recognizes the success of Black women.Anderson, St ...

. Bond is an author, celebrity DJ, model and founder of the women's empowerment organization and acclaimed award show

Black Girls Rock BLACK GIRLS ROCK! is a company founded by executive producer, businesswoman, celebrity DJ, and former model Beverly Bond. The company hosts an annual award show of the same name that honors and promotes Black women's achievements. BLACK GIRLS ROCK ...

!®, established in 2006, which celebrates the power, beauty, and brilliance of black women. In 2014, Bond founded and trademarked Black Girl Magic for an apparel line and talk show she developed under BondVision Media, Inc., Bond's production company. Since 2015, Bond featured Black Girl Magic talks at the annual BLACK GIRLS LEAD Summit for teen girls in New York City. In 2018, Bond launched the Black Girl MagicPodcast to elevate the lived experiences of Black women. In 2019 Bond featured Black Girl Magic panels and talks at the inaugural BGR!FEST held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

History

Origin

In 2014, Bond registered Black Girl Magic as an extension of the BLACK GIRLS ROCK! brand, an apparel line sold in the BLACK GIRLS ROCK! store, and a TV Show Bond developed under her production company BondVision Media. Bond secured social media handles on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

for Black Girl Magic® by August 2014. In 2016 Bond executive produced the pilot for the Black Girl Magic TV Show directed by

Matthew Cherry Matthew A. Cherry (born December 14, 1981) is an American film director, writer, producer, and former American football player. He wrote and directed two independent films, ''The Last Fall'' (2012), and ''9 Rides'' (2016). He is best known for th ...

, hosted

Tatyana Ali Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and singer best known for her role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from 1990 to 1996. She starred as Tyana Jones on the TV One original series ''Love That Girl!'', an ...

and Janell Snowden, and with guest appearances by

Jay Ellis Wendell Ramone "Jay" Ellis Jr. (born December 27, 1981) is an American actor. In 2013, Ellis received his first major role on BET's series ''The Game (American TV series), The Game''. He is a main cast member on HBO's series ''Insecure (TV serie ...

Nzingha Stewart Nzingha Stewart is an American filmmaker. She began her career directing music videos, later moving to the television and movie industry in 2010 with the drama ''For Colored Girls'' as an executive producer. She has directed two movies for Lifetim ...

Lalah Hathaway Eulaulah Donyll "Lalah" Hathaway (born December 16, 1968) is an American singer. In 1990 Hathaway released her first album titled ''Lalah Hathaway''. After releasing another album, titled '' A Moment'' (1994), it debuted at number 34 on the To ...

and

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rap music, rapper, Disc jockey, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 19 ...

. In 2018, Bond created the Black Girl Magic Hour Podcast to continue elevating conversations by and for Black women. Black Girl Magic Hour includes a weekly panel of Black women thought leaders across sectors including

Michaela Angela Davis Michaela Angela Davis is a writer on African-American style, race, gender and hip-hop culture in the United States. She is also a fashion expert and an "image activist." Early life Michaela Angela Davis was born on March 31, 1964, in Landshut, ...

Kierna Mayo Kierna Mayo is an American writer, editor, and media executive. She started her journalism career as a member of the original writing staff for ''The Source''. Mayo co-founded the lifestyle magazine ''Honey'' in 1999, and was later the editor-in-c ...

Raqiyah Mays Raqiyah Mays (born November 11, 1975, in Newark, New Jersey) is an author, screenwriter, executive producer, podcaster, journalist, and former radio personality, Born in Newark, NJ, Raqiyah was featured in The Limited clothing store's 2015 nation ...

, Janell Snowden,

and other special guests. Bond credits friend, feminist author,

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

, and former Black Girls Rock! Board Member,

Joan_Morgan_%28American_author%29 Joan Morgan (born May 25, 1965) is a Jamaican- American author and journalist. She was born in Jamaica and raised in the South Bronx. Morgan coined the term "hip hop feminist". Early life and education Morgan was born in Westmoreland Parish, J ...

, with using the phrase "Black Girl Magic" and subconsciously planting the term in her head as early as 2000. In 1999 Morgan published, "When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost" where she writes, “I wrote. Spent lots of time near the water. Heard Oshun's laughter twinkling like bells, urging me to recapture the feminine and discover the fierceness of a black girl’s magic.”

Controversy

Timeline

In 1999

Joan Morgan Joan Morgan (1 February 1905 – 22 July 2004) was an English film actress, screenwriter and novelist. Born in Forest Hill, London, she was the daughter of film director Sidney Morgan and his wife, Evelyn. Joan Morgan died at age 99 in Henle ...

published, "When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost" where she writes, “I wrote. Spent lots of time near the water. Heard Oshun's laughter twinkling like bells, urging me to recapture the feminine and discover the fierceness of a black girl’s magic.” Beverly Bond, founder of BLACK GIRLS ROCK! and creator/executive producer of the BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Awards, has the first documented trademark registration for "Black Girl Magic" in 2014 and social media handles for Black Girl Magic on Twitter and Facebook (2014). Bond filed the trademark for Broadcast, Entertainment, and Merchandise after pitching a show of the same name as part of her development deal with BET Networks. CaShawn Thompson, a DC-based educator, claims that she is "the mother of #BlackGirlMagic" after she created the Black Girls ''are'' Magic hashtag in 2013 and Black Girls ''are'' Magic T-shirts for "an intimate circle of friends" in 2014. However, there isn't any legal documentation of use, Uniform Resource Locator (URL), public facing marketing campaign, or registered business to substantiate Thompson's claims to coining the term "Black Girl Magic" before Bond registered for the trademark in 2014. Thompson also references a speech made by Michelle Obama at the 2015 BLACK GIRL ROCK! Awards, created by Beverly Bond, as her inspiration to start conversations about Black women's achievements using the hashtag "Black Girl are Magic".

Legal

In 2016

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

created a digital series titled "Black Girl Magic". In 2017

Essence Magazine ''Essence'' is a monthly lifestyle magazine covering fashion, beauty, entertainment, and culture. First published in 1970, the magazine is written for African-American women. History Edward Lewis, Clarence O. Smith, Cecil Hollingsworth and Jon ...

attempted to trademark "Essence Black Girl Magic," although the registration for "Black Girl Magic" was already registered by Beverly Bond." Bond won the legal dispute. In March 2019,

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

released an advertisement "Black Girl Magic: A moment in search", but neglected to mention or contact Bond to use her trademarked phrase, which upset individuals who believe that Black women's contributions to popular culture are being erased or minimized.

References