Wednesday, November 9, 2011

In Honor of Black Girls Rock!: Five Black Girls Who Rock

In honor of this week's airing of Black Girls Rock! Awards (which re-aired last night), I felt inspired to our together my own list of black girls who honestly rock. You see, I love this movement Beverly Bond, mainly because we once interacted on a personal level. I'd pitched her as a potential DJ for an upcoming event with a female client, who later decided she didn't want to share the stage with another gorgeous woman. Despite this blatant insecurity, I had to break the news to Beverly. Her response was simple: "why can't girls rock out together?" ...I promptly fell in love with her.

I love this movement by Beverly and felt inspired to put together a list of my own women who rock.


Beverly Bond

What kind of list would this be if it didn't begin with the founder of Black Girls Rock!?

Beverly, a New York based DJ, created the began the nonprofit organization in 2006. The goal? To create a safe space for black females (girls and women alike). The organization is committed to the development and betterment of black women across the world. Since it's induction, it has been incredible to see BGR! taking flight through an awards show running two years strong among other outreach programs.

By creating a space for young black girls to find positive mainstream representation of themselves, Beverly has earned the title many times over as a black girl who rocks.



Kerry Washington

Look at her. The woman can honestly do no wrong. However, she's listed in this post because Kerry and I shared a moment a few years ago at the Conde Nast Traveler Reader's Choice Awards. I was there because it was my job to tell celebrities what to do (oh this life I lead...), she was there presenting an award.

She came up to me and said "sister honey, do you think I can slip away after my award? My body weary" with a wink. Actually, it was probably more along the lines of "can I go when I'm done? I'm tired" but knowing what kind of stunning, strong, and funny black woman she is, I'm going to stick with the latter. We shared a moment filled with laughter and a wink from me that said I won't tell if you leave, and since then, I've been a Kerry Washington stan.


Gabourey Sidibe

I love me some Gabby Sidibe.

Like, love.

I think it has to do with her Hollywood style Cinderella Story. Apparently, she wanted nothing to do with the acting world and was going to school for something completely unrelated (like science or math or something equally horrific). Anyway, point is, she attended a casting call for Precious on a whim and the rest is history.

Aside from the above, I find Gabby completely stunning from inside and out. Her laugh is infectious, her positive attitude is inspring. If she's slated to be on any talk show, I'm DVRing it to hear who her latest celebrity crush is. She's easily one of us (the normal ones), except even more adorable.

Corinne Bailey Rae

This summer I spent an extended amount of time in The Tents at Lincoln Center for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. Every day without fail, I'd see a gorgeous woman with beautiful hair walk by the space I was producing. She had a new and fierce outfit each day, I was dying to figure out who she was. Then one day, when I died and found myself in Essence (heaven), I found her in a similar Street Style blog. It was Corrine Bailey Rae.

In general, I've enjoyed her music since she released her freshman album. Like everyone else, I was left speechless at the news her husband had passed away and she went into a mourning period. Since then, she has released a cover of Bob Marley's Is This Love that truly is love and has rebranded herself as a fashion maven.

I find her a truly courageous woman to emerge this way after tragedy.

Tatyana Ali

At this year's Black Girls Rock! Awards, Tatyana was awards the Young, Gifted, & Black Award.

She took the stage looking absolutely stunning, a very grown up Ashley Banks, who she played on the Fresh Prince of Bel Aire from the ages of 11 to 18.

In taking a hiatus from acting, Tatyana attended Harvard University to study Political Science and African American Studies. Through her work there, she's become an activist, focusing a tremendous amount of attention on education issues that affect our youth. 

When accepting her award, she wrote a letter to her younger self, hoping it will help America's black youth. She spoke wisely about faith, family, and love; word that women of all ages need to remember as we move forward in our lives.




What black girls are on your list?

[image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

1 comment:

  1. All these ladies are definitely on our list. We love your blog! Now following!

    http://six-inch-walker.blogspot.com

    A+D
    xxx

    ReplyDelete

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