5 magical moments from the powerful Black Girls Rock!
Black girl magic was in full effect tonight.
BET aired its 10th annual Black Girls Rock! awards ceremony on Tuesday night, celebrating black girls and women who are changing the world. Megastars like Rihanna and Shonda Rhimes received accolades, as did activists Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors, the founders of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Legends like Gladys Knight performed, and even presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stopped by to say a few words about the importance of supporting and uplifting black women.
Here are some highlights from the spectacular night.
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Tracee Ellis Ross' hilarious opening number
The Black-ish star and longtime Black Girls Rock host opened the show by doing a rapid-fire series of singer impressions, from Janet Jackson to Queen Latifah to Rihanna to Beyoncé to her own mom, Diana Ross.
Beverly Bond's affirming speech
The Black Girls Rock founder brought the house down with a powerful speech about the importance of the event, touching everything from cultural appropriation to black girl magic.
"I started Black Girls Rock because I love us and I believe in us," she says.
She ended her speech with a powerful shoutout to young black girls everywhere.
"I want us to be free," she said. "To all the black girls all over the world -- own your magic."
An array of powerful acceptance speeches
Danai Gurira, Amandla Stenberg, Gladys Knight, Rihanna, Rhimes and #BlackLivesMatter founders Garza and Tometi and Cullors were all honored with special, individual awards. But it's too hard to pick one standout, because every single speech was epic. Here are some of their best quotes:
Gurira: "I'm so grateful to be a black woman. I would be so jealous if I were anything else."
Rhimes: "Change the world. And when you've done that, change it again."
Stenberg: "I do not thrive in spite of my blackness ... it is the reason why I am beautiful and intelligent. And you cannot stop me.”
Knight: "I am so grateful for the best prize I could have ever won."
Garza: "We who believe in freedom will not rest until it comes."
Rihanna: "The minute you learn to love yourself, you would not want to be anyone else."
Stunning musical performances
There wasn't a weak note in the house. The night's performers included Knight, Andra Day, Marsha Ambrosius, Natalie Stewart, Corinne Bailey Rae, Lauryn Hill, Monica (who brought her adorable daughter onstage) and more.
Some of the standouts included Jazmine Sullivan, who crushed a performance of "Mona Lisa," complete with backup dancers of different body types.
Brandy also delivered a rousing, boozy performance of song "Beggin and Pleadin," taking fake swigs from a flask and delivering powerful vocal riffs.
Seeing all the honorees in formation
It's not often viewers get to see this many black women onstage at a major awards event. At the end of the night, Ross brought each of the night's honorees, as well as Bond and BET CEO Debra Lee, out to give the audience one last look at all this black girl magic in formation.
Until next year!
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Topics Black Lives Matter Music
Yohana Desta was the senior film reporter for Mashable. She is a Northern Virginia native and an American University grad. She enjoys carefully curating her Instagram account and can often be found reading books, going to concerts, watching movies and learning way too much about pop culture.
