Beverly Bond is an author, DJ, artist, cultural curator, television producer, philanthropist, and thought leader who has blazed trails in music, entertainment, and social entrepreneurship. In 2006, Bond founded BLACK GIRLS ROCK!® to showcase empowering images of women of color. She partnered with BET in 2010 to bring the BLACK GIRLS ROCK!® Awards to television which garnered over 2.7 million on its television debut.
Bond has earned several prestigious recognitions including EBONY Magazine’s Power 100 list of “Most Influential Blacks In America,” three Gracie Awards, four NAACP Image Awards, and four Root 100 Awards. Bond has also been given the “Key to the City” and celebrated with her own “Beverly Bond Day” in Rochester, New York by Mayor Lovely Warren. Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared March 6 as BLACK GIRLS ROCK! DAY in the U.S. capitol city.
What was that like to go from T-shirts to a conference to help Black girls and women recognize their special abilities?
The order went from t-shirt to the award show, and then later on we brought in the other stuff. In addition to that, before we went to BET, it took us four years to get there. The process for me was just one of tunnel vision, I just kept going. I knew that this affirmation was necessary, I knew that it was going to matter, and I knew it was going to be a game changer. When you know something about a vision that you have, you just keep going forward, and I think that’s what I did. I recognized the impact that BGR has had in the world, but I also saw it before it happened.
What would you share with a young woman about the value of bringing courage to her presence in the room?
I think that the affirmation gives courage, and it gives you permission to be without question, without having to ask for permission. A lot of what we faced was living in the sphere of not being enough and being rejected. I feel like young women right now … even the girls that we mentor are so courageous, and I’m so excited about what they’re going to do in this world.We as a community should also remember to be the adults in their lives, and help them as they move forward because sometimes, we’ve all been in spaces where we didn’t know all that we thought we knew, and sometimes they need guidance. I think that because of the way this world is right now with social media, a lot of times our next generation believes they have arrived, and they don’t know the rest of the way. One of the things that we try to do is not just encourage our girls to be brave and to be bold, but also give them the tools and support they need to get there and make sure that they understand the process.
