BLACK GIRLS ROCK! is a company founded by

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

, businesswoman, celebrity DJ, and former

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

Beverly Bond. The company hosts an annual award show of the same name that honors and promotes

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

women's achievements. BLACK GIRLS ROCK! also has a nonprofit arm that teaches leadership skills and develops confidence in teenage girls through its annual "BLACK GIRLS LEAD" conference.

History

BLACK GIRLS ROCK! was founded by celebrity DJ and model Beverly Bond in 2006. The inaugural BLACK GIRLS ROCK! AWARDS ceremony honored rapper MC Lyte and DJ Jazzy Joyce at powerHouse Arena, an art gallery and powerHouse Books location in DUMBO, Brooklyn. For the second annual BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Awards the organization honored

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

, Sylvia Rhone, and DJ Diamond Kuts at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City with actress Regina King as its host. The organization continued to independently produce its annual award show in New York City until 2009. In 2008 Regina King hosted the award show again and in 2009 the award show was co-hosted by Regina King and Tracee Ellis Ross. In 2010 BLACK GIRLS ROCK! collaborated with BET to bring its annual award ceremony to television. The award show aired on BET from 2010 through 2019. In 2021, Beverly Bond, launched BGR!TV Networks, which streams original content celebrating Black women and girls including the BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Awards. The BGR!TV Networks first program was the BLACK GIRLS ROCK! 15th-anniversary Fundraising Gala which was headlined by Chaka Khan and featured Grammy-nominated artists Alice Smith and Maimouna Youssef, a.k.a. MuMu Fresh; D.C.'s all-woman go-go band Bela Dona; Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Tasha Cobbs Leonard; celebrity DJ Active; and an exclusive collaboration with Chaka Khan and

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...

lead guitarist Phil Collen. In 2019, in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, BLACK GIRLS ROCK! hosted BGR!Fest. The three-day celebration was timed to coincide with International Women's Day, and included a dance party and a weekend of music performances. A second BGR!Fest was held in 2020, The Kennedy Center announced that the BGR!FEST will return in March 2022 and BLACK GIRLS ROCK! is currently collaborating with the National Symphony Orchestra to produce another event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. BLACK GIRLS ROCK! also holds an annual BLACK GIRLS LEAD conference for girls and hosts educational STEM programs through its platform Girls Rock Tech!

Award Show

Each year, BLACK GIRLS ROCK! celebrants are recognized in categories including, but not limited to, "The Rock Star", "Social Humanitarian", "Who Got Next?", "Living Legend", "Shot Caller", "Trailblazer", "Motivator", "Young, Gifted & Black", "Star Power", "Icon" or "Visionary" award. The program features musical performances by female recording artists in the R&B and Soul music genres. Notable speakers have included

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

(2015) and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

(2016). Since its first televised ceremony on Nov 7, 2010, Black Girls Rock! has become an annually televised event on BET and BET Her. That year the ceremony was hosted by actress Nia Long and featured recognitions and musical performances by SWV, Coko, Raven-Symoné, Keke Palmer, Ruby Dee, Teresa Clarke, Marcelite J. Harris, Iyanla Vanzant, Kelly Price, VV Brown, Keyshia Cole, Marsha Ambrosius, Jill Scott, Ledisi, Keri Hilson, Ciara, and

. The 2013 show garnered over 2.7 million television viewers. Since 2015, the annual ceremony has been produced from Newark's New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The 2019 event was hosted by actress Niecy Nash on August 25, 2019 and aired on September 8, 2019 on BET. The award show has won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Variety in the Series of Special category three times (2013, 2017, 2019) and been nominated five times.

Honorees

2006

*Pioneer Award DJ Jazzy Joyce *Icon Award

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a ...

2007

*Creative Visionary Award

* DJ Jazzy Joyce Award DJ Diamond Cuts * Corporate Award Sylvia Rhone

2008

* Rock Star Award Erykah Badu * Monument Award Nicole Paultre-Bell and Valerie Bell * Shot Caller Award Bethann Hardison * Fashionista Award June Ambrose * Living Legend Award Pam Grier * Social Humanitarian Award Iman * Become Legendary Award April Holmes

2009

* Community Service Award Dr. Mehret Mandefro * Fashionista Award Naomi Campbell * Who Got Next Award Janelle Monáe * Jazzy Joyce DJ Award Spinderella * Young, Gifted and Black Award Raven-Symoné * Living Legend Award Dr. Sonia Sanchez * Shot Caller Award Iyanla Vanzant * Rock Star Award Queen Latifah * Icon Award Mary J. Blige

2010

* Young, Gifted & Black Award Raven-Symoné * Visionary Award

* Who Got Next? Award Keke Palmer * Shot Caller Award Teresa Clarke * Living Legend Award Ruby Dee * Trailblazer Award Major General Marcelite J. Harris * Motivator Award Rev. Dr. Iyanla Vanzant

2011

* Young, Black & Gifted Award Tatyana Ali * Star Power Award Taraji P. Henson * Shot Caller Award Laurel J. Richie * Living Legend Award

Shirley Caesar Shirley Ann Caesar-Williams (Birth name, née Caesar; born October 13, 1938), known professionally as Shirley Caesar, is an American Gospel music, gospel singer. Her career began in 1951, when she signed to Federal Records at the age of 12. Thro ...

* Icon Award Angela Davis * Trailblazer Awards Imani Walker and Malika Saada Saar

2012

* Rock Star Award

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

* Young Gifted and Black Award Janelle Monáe * Star Power Award Kerry Washington * Living Legend Award

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

* Inspiration Award Susan L. Taylor * Social Humanitarian Award Dr. Hawa Abdi, Dr. Deqo Mohamed and Dr. Amina Mohamed

2013

* Rock Star Award Queen Latifah * Young, Gifted & Black Award Misty Copeland * Star Power Award Venus Williams * Living Legend Award Patti LaBelle * Social Humanitarian Award Marian Wright Edelman * Community Activist Award Ameena Matthews

2015

* Rock Star Award Erykah Badu * Shot Caller Award Ava DuVernay * Star Power Award Jada Pinkett Smith * Living Legend Award Cicely Tyson * Social Humanitarian Award Dr. Helene D. Gayle * Change Agent Award Nadia Lopez

2016

* Rock Star Celebrant

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

* Shot Caller Celebrant Shonda Rhimes * Young, Gifted and Black Celebrant Amandla Stenberg * Star Power Celebrant Danai Gurira * Living Legend Celebrant Gladys Knight * Community Change Agent Celebrants Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi

2017

* Rock Star Celebrant Solange * Shot Caller Celebrant Suzanne Shank * Social Humanitarian Celebrant Maxine Waters * Star Power Celebrant Issa Rae * Living Legend Celebrant

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

* Community Change Agent Celebrants Natalie and Derrica Wilson * Young Gifted And Black Celebrant Yara Shahidi

2018

* Rock Star Celebrant Janet Jackson * Star Power Award Mary J Blige * Living Legend Award Judith Jamison * Black Girl Magic Naomi Campbell * Shot Caller Award Lena Waithe * Community Change Agent Award Tarana Burke

2019

* Icon Award Angela Bassett * Star Power Award Regina King * Rock Star Award Ciara * Young, Gifted & Black Award H.E.R. * Shot Caller Award Debra Martin Chase * Community Change Agent Award Gwen Carr, Lucy McBath, Geneva Reed-Veal, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, Maria Hamilton, Sybrina Fulton

2018 Book: ''Black Girls Rock! Owning Our Magic. Rocking Our Truth.''

In February 2018,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

published ''Black Girls Rock! Owning Our Magic. Rocking Our Truth.'' The book was edited by Beverly Bond and features insights from nearly sixty influential Black women, including Michelle Obama, Angela Davis, Shonda Rhimes, Misty Copeland, Yara Shahidi, and Mary J. Blige.

References

External links

Black Girls Rock, Inc. Official Website
{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Variety – Series or Special Awards established in 2006