Black Girls Rock!

Black Girls Rock! is an annual award show, founded by former DJ and model Beverly Bond, that honors and promotes Black women in different fields involving music, entertainment, medicine, entrepreneurship and visionary aspects; the categorized awards include "The 'Rock Star' Award", "Social Humanitarian", "Who Got Next?", "Living Legend", "Shot Caller", "Trailblazer", "Motivator", "Young, Gifted & Black", "Star Power", and "Visionary".[1] The program also features musical performances by female recording artists in the R&B and Soul music genres.

Black Girls Rock!
Country	United States
First awarded	2006
Website	www.blackgirlsrock.com
Television/radio coverage
Network	BET

The annual ceremony made its official television debut on November 7, 2010, on BET.[2] The ceremony was hosted by actress Nia Long and featured recognitions and musical performances by musical performers such as SWV, Coko, Raven-Symoné, Keke Palmer, Ruby Dee, Teresa Clarke, Marcelite J. Harris, Iyanla Vanzant, Kelly Price, Keyshia Cole, Marsha Ambrosius, Jill Scott, Ledisi, Keri Hilson, Ciara and Missy Elliott, who was previously honored with the "Creative Visionary" award in 2007.[1][3]

The inaugural ceremony's success has since led to Black Girls Rock! becoming an annual televised event on BET and its sister network Centric (now BET Her).[4]

The annual ceremony has been produced at from New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark since the 2015 event.[5]

At the 2016 event, Hillary Clinton attended and introduced Bond.[6]

The 2019 event was hosted by actress Niecy Nash. It was held on August 25 and aired on September 8 on BET.[7]

2007 Honorees

• Creative Visionary Award – Missy Elliott[8]
• DJ Jazzy Joyce Award – DJ Diamond Cuts[8]
• Corporate Award – Sylvia Rhone[8]

2008 Honorees

• Rock Star Award – Erykah Badu[9]
• Monument Award – Nicole Paultre-Bell and Valerie Bell[9]
• Shot Caller Award – Bethann Hardison[9]
• Fashionista Award – June Ambrose[9]
• Living Legend Award – Pam Grier[9]
• Social Humanitarian Award – Iman[9]
• Become Legendary Award – April Holmes[9]

2009 Honorees

• Community Service Award – Dr. Mehret Mandefro[10]
• Fashionista Award – Naomi Campbell[10]
• Who Got Next Award – Janelle Monáe[10]
• Jazzy Joyce DJ Award – Spinderella[10]
• Young, Gifted and Black Award – Raven-Symoné[10]
• Living Legend Award – Dr. Sonia Sanchez[10]
• Shot Caller Award – Iyanla Vanzant[10]
• Rock Star Award – Queen Latifah[10]
• Icon Award – Mary J. Blige[10]

2010 Honorees

• Young, Gifted & Black Award – Raven-Symoné[11]
• Visionary Award – Missy Elliott[11]
• Who Got Next? Award – Keke Palmer[11]
• Shot Caller Award – Teresa Clarke[11]
• Living Legend Award – Ruby Dee[11]
• Trailblazer Award – Major General Marcelite J. Harris[11]
• Motivator Award – Rev. Dr. Iyanla Vanzant[11]

2011 Honorees

• Young, Black & Gifted Award – Tatyana Ali[12]
• Star Power Award – Taraji P. Henson[12]
• Shot Caller Award – Laurel J. Richie[12]
• Living Legend Award – Shirley Caesar[12]
• Icon Award – Angela Davis[12]
• Trailblazer Awards – Imani Walker and Malika Saada Saar[12]

2012 Honorees

• Rock Star Award – Alicia Keys[13]
• Young Gifted and Black Award – Janelle Monáe[13]
• Star Power Award – Kerry Washington[13]
• Living Legend Award – Dionne Warwick[13]
• Inspiration Award – Susan L. Taylor[13]
• Social Humanitarian Award – Dr. Hawa Abdi, Dr. Deqo Mohamed and Dr. Amina Mohamed[13]

2013 Honorees

• Rock Star Award – Queen Latifah[14]
• Young, Gifted & Black Award – Misty Copeland[14]
• Star Power Award – Venus Williams[14]
• Living Legend Award – Patti LaBelle[14]
• Social Humanitarian Award – Marian Wright Edelman[14]
• Community Activist Award – Ameena Matthews[14]

2015 Honorees

• Rock Star Award – Erykah Badu[15]
• Shot Caller Award – Ava DuVernay[15]
• Star Power Award – Jada Pinkett Smith[15]
• Living Legend Award – Cicely Tyson[15]
• Social Humanitarian Award – Dr. Helene D. Gayle[15]
• Change Agent Award – Nadia Lopez[15]

2016 Honorees

• Rock Star Celebrant – Rihanna[16][17]
• Shot Caller Celebrant – Shonda Rhimes[17]
• Young, Gifted and Black Celebrant – Amandla Stenberg[16]
• Star Power Celebrant – Danai Gurira[16]
• Living Legend Celebrant – Gladys Knight[16]
• Community Change Agent Celebrants – Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi[17]

2017 Honorees

• Rock Star Celebrant – Solange[17]
• Shot Caller Celebrant – Suzanne Shank[17]
• Social Humanitarian Celebrant – Maxine Waters[17]
• Star Power Celebrant – Issa Rae[17]
• Living Legend Celebrant – Roberta Flack[17]
• Community Change Agent Celebrants – Natalie and Derrica Wilson[17]
• Young Gifted And Black Celebrant – Yara Shahidi[17]

2018 Honorees

• Rock Star Celebrant – Janet Jackson[17]
• Star Power Award – Mary J Blige[17]
• Living Legend Award – Judith Jamison[17]
• Black Girl Magic – Naomi Campbell[17]
• Shot Caller Award – Lena Waithe[17]
• Community Change Agent Award – Tarana Burke[17]

2019 Honorees

• Icon Award – Angela Bassett[18]
• 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 – Gwenn Carr, Lucy McBath, Geneva Reed-Veal, Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, Maria Hamilton, Sybrina Fulton

References

1. Respers, Lisa (6 November 2010). "'Black Girls Rock!' on BET". The Marquee Blog. CNN.com. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
2. Pendleton, Tonya. (2011). "Beverly Bond Shows, Proves that Black Girls Rock" Archived March 31, 2013, at the Wayback Machine BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM. Retrieved 2012-11-12.
3. Wolfe, Roman (26 September 2007). "Female Rappers, Executives Honored At Black Girls Rock! Awards". AllHipHop. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
4. Lesley Goldberg. "Beverly Bond Inks New BET Deal for 'Black Girls Rock' Awards (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter, November 18, 2013.
5. "In Newark, Michelle Obama declares 'Black Girls Rock!'", NJ.com, March 29, 2015.
6. The Huffington Post. 04/06/2016 Lilly Workneh
7. Ramos, Dino-Ray (August 19, 2019). "Niecy Nash Set As Host For BET's Black Girls Rock! Awards". Deadline. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
8. Greg, Grouchy (September 26, 2007). "Female Rappers, Executives Honored At Black Girls Rock! Awards". Exclusive Hip Hop News, Interviews, Rumors, Rap & Music Videos | Allhiphop. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
9. "Black Girls Rock! Awards Honor Erykah Badu, Pam Grier, Iman and More". Essence.com. December 16, 2009. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
10. "Black Girls Rock Awards". blackgirlsrock.wordpress.com. May 5, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
11. "Nia Long Hosts BET's First Ever 'Black Girls Rock' Tribute to Black Women This Sunday | EURweb". EURweb. November 4, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
12. "Black Girls Rock! 2011" (PDF). sunsetlaneentertainment.com. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
13. Obenson, Tambay A. "'Black Girls Rock!' 2012 Celebrates, Inspires On Sunday, Nov. 4 At 7pm/ET Exclusively On BET | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
14. "BLACK GIRLS ROCK! 2013 honors black women making an impact, airs on BET". Affrodite®. October 24, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
15. "2015 Black Girls Rock Awards Show, Newark". www.averagesocialite.com. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
16. Worknegh, Lilly (June 4, 2016). "Black Girls Rock! Is The Ultimate Celebration Of Sisterhood". HuffPost.
17. "2016 Awards". BET.com. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
18. Sanchez, Chelsey (September 9, 2019). "Twitter Is Raving Over Angela Bassett's Powerful Speech at the Black Girls Rock! Awards". Harper's Bazaar.

External links

• Black Girls Rock, Inc. Official Website
• BET Site