The stars were out Saturday night in the Bronx as BET taped its Black Girls Rock! 2012 awards show. The event aimed to celebrate and empower Black girls and brought out several celebrities, featured musical performances and honored woman and young girls of color.
Taped at the Lowe’s Paradise Theater the awards show is in its third year and honored actress Kerry Washington, music legend Dionne Warwick, Essence magazine editor Susan Taylor, singers Alicia Keys and Janelle Monae and human rights activists and doctors Dr. Hawa Abdi and her daughters.
Tracee Ellis Ross and Regina King returned as co-hosts for the two-hour event. There were also performances by India Arie, Brandy, Keyshia Cole, Anthony Hamilton, Luke James and Eric Benet.
Other celebrities that attended the event were Mara Schiavocampo of NBC News, TJ Holmes, La La Anthony, Meagan Good, Terrie Williams and Idris Elba.
“Every year it’s such an emotional evening,” said BET Chairwoman and CEO Debrah Lee. “We have a great group of woman and female performances and it’s only about women.”
Black Girls Rock is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 by celebrity DJ and philanthropist Beverly Bond. The organization is dedicated to promoting positive images of women of color in mass media. Black Girls Rock! seeks to build the self-esteem and self-worth of young women of color by changing their outlook on life, broadening their horizons and helping them to empower themselves.
“This is the third year we’ve done it on TV and it’s amazing. We get phone calls and letters from so many girls telling us how inspired they are. The awards show is our once a year statement. We are still growing into ourselves. Our motto is ‘each one, teach one,” Bond said.
Black Girls Rock! will air Sunday, Nov. 4 at 8pm ET on BET. For more information on Black Girls Rock! visit www.blackgirlsrockinc.com.