00:00When we possess and own our own magnificence, we continue to work this world, this walk, this life, more magnificent, not only for ourselves, but for our family, for our communities, for the world.
00:16Noni here on the red carpet for Black Girls Rock.
00:19Tonight I'll be talking to all the presenters, performers, and honorees just about what it feels like to be celebrated by black women.
00:27You know what? I sit, I watch the show along with my daughter, and I want her to feel, you know, all that love, all that beauty, all those smiles, all that joy, all that pride.
00:38I want her to possess, not only see it, but to possess it for her own as she, you know, makes her way into this world.
00:46We needed a place to uphold and uplift our narratives, and there wasn't a lot of space for us.
00:54There wasn't a lot of space for us in media. In fact, there was exactly the opposite.
00:59Either we were invisible, or we were degraded, or we were objectified.
01:03So it was important for me to shift that message, because it wasn't my truth.
01:08It wasn't the truth of the women that I knew, and I just wanted to do something that really represented us.
01:13It's significant because all these black women are here together representing black women,
01:21and we're doing it on TV for people to see, which they need to, because black women are not just one thing, and we're all representing that.
01:29It's a chance where we really get to come together as a sisterhood in a village, and it's all about us,
01:34because, you know, no better way to represent than for us to represent for our own,
01:39and, you know, to take control of that and ownership of it.
01:42We know each other. We know, you know our hearts. We know our strength. We know the legacy that we come from.
01:47So I wouldn't want to be with anybody else in a room full of amazing, talented, intelligent, beautiful black women,
01:54you know, just loving on each other. That's all it's about is loving on each other at the end of the day.
01:59This is black women. This is us. This is, you know, we yearn to stick together.
02:04We yearn to, you know, be the best version of ourselves, and to be, you know, a part of something that celebrates that,
02:11and really looks to that, and just gives so many, you know, opportunities for people to be honored,
02:16and for people to perform and present. It's just all, it's all beautiful, and I'm just so happy to be invited this year,
02:22and I'm just, so many magical moments have happened for me at the show.
02:26Tonight is so significant because I think for so long we wanted a seat at the table, right?
02:31We were knocking on the door and no one was letting us in, and I think this represents us really creating our own thing.
02:37We don't need to sit at anybody else's table. We can build it for ourselves, and we get to award one another
02:42and be the gold we want to hold, as Solange would say.
02:45This is a night where we embrace loving each other, celebrating each other, and motivating each other to do even better things.
02:51Well, it's significant for us to remember that there are people in this society who we can look up to
02:55who are incredible role models for all of us. When I grew up, that was my mom.
02:59You know, she was a black woman. She was Mrs. North Carolina in 2002, and she was the second black woman to hold that title.
03:05So for me that was significant because I could see myself in somebody, right?
03:09And so Black Girls Rock demonstrates to us, look, you can be that person, and she's black and she's successful too.
03:14It celebrates the truth of who we are. It honors those who have mastered their purpose with distinction.
03:20And, you know, certainly brand essence. That's what we've been about since our genesis.
03:24Telling our stories and sharing the truth of who we are.
03:28So, you know, it is so wonderful to see that legacy unfold in so many forms.
03:35We'll see you next time.
03:36Bye.
03:37Bye.
03:38Bye.
03:39Bye.
03:40Bye.
03:41Bye.
03:42Bye.
03:43Bye.
03:44Bye.
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