Black Girls Rock

http://www.blackenterprise.com/lifestyle/beverly-bond-responds-white-girls-rock-hash-tag/

 

Over the weekend, BET aired the fifth Black Girls Rock! award ceremony to honor and celebrate the accomplishments and good works of black girls, young and wise. During the live show, viewers flooded social media with the hashtag #BlackGirlsRock to share their thoughts and “mention” attendees like Tracee Ellis Ross, First Lady Michelle Obama and the Black Girls Rock! founder Beverly Bond.

While some women felt a sense of pride and progression, others were offended and argued that a show focused solely on black girls who rock depicted reverse racism. This fired off a new hashtag—#WhiteGirlsRock. @RoseVictorian tweeted, “Michelle Obama is the most inappropriate first lady in our nation’s history. Disgusting racist. #whitegirlsrock,” while @chelseaellecarr expressed, “Just seen an event #BlackGirlsRock are you kidding me? Imagine if there was a #whitegirlsrock this is disgraceful.”

Black Girls Rock!, the TV show that evolved from the community organization, has sparked debate in previous years, but the creator Beverly Bond didn’t involve herself in the controversy. This year, however, Bond decided to address the new hashtag in an article for The Root.

“When I heard about the ‘#whitegirlsrock’ hashtag that trended on Twitter, my immediate reaction was, ‘Well, duh! Of course white girls rock. Are they unaware?’” Bond writes. “White women’s beauty, talent, diversity and worldly contributions are affirmed everywhere: on billboards, on television, in magazines and in textbooks.”

She points out that black women, however, are not so frequently reminded of their contributions. “The participants in the #whitegirlsrock hashtag, who heralded accusations of reverse racism, fail to acknowledge the history of racism in media including the perpetual absence of diverse stories and representations of black women.”

Other valid points from Bond’s response are:

“As a humanist, I believe that we all rock. My issue is that the commentary that followed the ‘#whitegirlsrock’ hashtag was not even about affirming dynamic white women. Instead, it was about critiquing or even punishing black women for having the nerve, the audacity and the unmitigated gall to love and affirm ourselves.”

“I also think the anxiety that people have about Black Girls Rock!-ing reveals the blind spots associated with white privilege, including the inability to acknowledge that the privilege actually exists, a lack of accountability for prejudices and an overwhelming deficit in cultural competency.”

“The affirmation Black Girls Rock! does not mean other girls don’t rock, nor is Black Girls Rock! an ornamental phrase used to cloak ourselves in vanity. Saying that we rock is a response to the tremendous neglect that black girls feel when they grow up in a society, or, as Mara Brock Akil said in her 2013 Black Girls Rock! acceptance speech, ‘where they grow up in a home where their picture is not on the wall.’”

“From the suffragist movement to the civil rights movement, social change organizations and programs have been born out of sheer necessity. Because of the severe need that I observed, I created a platform where black women across the world can be seen in our beautiful and rich complexity. It is a space where black girls can rock in remembrance of our sheroes like Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Bessie Coleman, Lena Horne, Shirley Chisholm, Rosa Parks and Nina Simone.”

“And like the dynamic legends of our past, I know black girls will continue to rock because, as Iyanla Vanzant said in her 2010 Black Girls Rock! Awards acceptance speech, ‘We have no other choice.’”

“All are welcome to take part in this celebration of our history and our contributions to mankind, but know that our empowerment does not limit your own power, purpose, potential or worth. There is enough room for all of us to rock together.”

What’s your take on Black Girls Rock!? Share with us below, or on Twitter, @BlackEnterprise, using the hashtag #SoundOff.

 

Thank you

 

I posted this because some people will comment without reading due to it being a link and not the article...

I saw a clip where Michele Obama spoke to the audience...inspiring! She is an amazing First Lady (someone to look up to) love that she is promoting a positive self image for black women

 

Feel free not to post or enter the thread
Plainly shutting the fuck up would be nice too

 

why? do you have a comment? or just here to stir shit?

 

I get a little bothered when black folks try to empower each other, and when the privileged get wind of it, they scream for not being included and attempt to whitewash the movement. Just my opinion and I apologize for posting a gif. I wasn't aware they weren't allowed here.

 

I don't understand your comment, but as I expressed to the other fellow, stealing our empowerment and being offended by black people empowering each other unnerves me. Once again, I apologize for posting a gif and will leave the thread as requested.

 

Great read. Love what lyanla said. So true.
Perfect response from the creator Beverly Bond, too.

 

Smh at white people who got pissed off at this.

 

LOL I'm literally laughing with one eye open

 

Poorly named event IMO.

Everybody wants to be down nowadays, this isn't the 1970s where people will let you have your own shit just to uplift the community.:smt119

If you have a party(awards) event that says Blacks Only, somebody in 2015 is going to be offended by that, even if it's the bigots who weren't going anyway.

That's why the Essence and BET Awards shows, which everyone and their momma knows are Black interest events, are so successful because they aren't outwardly exclusionary.
Also, you attract more non-Black viewers because they don't feel as if they're being told they aren't wanted.

I know BET stands for Black Entertainment Television, but the 'Black' part goes over some people's head when they say BET.:smt033

All girls wanna be told 'they rock'.

A more creative, less striking name would have attracted less attention.

I'm 100% about self-empowerment and giving attention to high achievers in the Black community the media doesn't always cover, just try to do it in such a way that doesn't sound like an unintended diss against another group.

 

Word? So what do you think of #blacklivesmatter

 

Semantical difference is huge.

'Black lives matter' is referencing the indiscriminate murder and slaughter of Blacks by law enforcement. Nobody trying to be down with that kind of party and everyone can support the message, because all lives matter.

Black Girls Rock implicitly suggests Black girls have it over all other females, which I know that's not what the people hosting that event intended to suggest.

Again I feel like I've been trolled explaining something to you that you already knew.:smt072

A non-race specific moniker would have been more effective IMO.

Something like BET Girl Power conveys the same message without the exclusionary tone.

When I went to college, all the Black interest campus organizations were called the Black Student Union or the Caribbean Student's Association, etc.

When I was in boarding school for a minute(!), the same organization was called, Spectrum.

And guess what, it was still a predominantly minority based organization and mostly Black, but we also had a sprinkle of White students who showed up time to time because they felt they had a place at the table.

When people in 2015 seek to purposefully include themselves in a group based on race, it sends the wrong message.

Nowadays we need to be more nuanced.

 

Black girls are the mosr misrepresented and least celebrated females in this country if not the world. In almost every way they are looked at as less than because of their skin hair and lips which ironically is "beautiful" when others adopt it. If you can't recognize the need if not long deserved appreciation you my friend aren't paying attention. Keep trolling homie.

 

Agreed. Can't believe #blacklivesmatter was even compared. One is deadly serious about mostly BM being murdered on a whim while the other is about female self esteem and achieving/empowerment. Not even remotely the same thing.

Back to the actual topic...you bring up an interesting point. It's unfortunate that people misconstrued the moniker...but it goes to show you how important -or how sensitive -or how powerful, words are in this country. Even something as simple as moving words around might have changed their reaction..eg
Black Girls Who Rock
Black Girls Rocking
Rocking Black Girls
Black Rocking Girls
Black Girls Rocking the World
They still convey or personify the various achievements and accomplishments, without the (perceived) tone that it's "excluding", to the white women who took offense.

 

Who cares if it excludes white girls? We're included in everything else. Black women should be able to celebrate themselves without worrying about white girls' feelings getting hurt. Would anyone care if there was an Asian Girls Rock? Latina Chicks Rock?

 

Apparently, according to the article, enough white women care. Which is why it trended, and the creator felt compelled to respond. While WE understand, a lot apparently, (unfortunately) don't.

 

No it wouldn't which further shows some people don't get it. It's the same nonsense thinking that makes people ask questions like why isn't there WET like there's a BET. The same people who ask why isn't there White History month or an NAAWP. It's this unrealistic feeling that things aren't fair when the spotlight moves off of white people for even a fraction of second. There's no need for a WET since that's just called television, there's no need for white history month since that's just history, no need for a NAAWP since that's called the system period. So rewording it wouldn't do shit since the sentiment is it should be about white people everyday all day when people get upset about these things. God forbid anyone else is celebrated for anything without their consent.

And the reason blacklivesmatter is compared because THIS SHIT HAS TO BE SAID OUT LOUD OTHERWISE A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T COME TO IT ON THEIR OWN.
It goes without saying blacklivesmatter and blackgirlsrock.... actually no it does have to be said smh