DJ Beverly Bond, an internationally renowned DJ and former Wilhelmina model, is celebrating her 10th anniversary in the business. She has plenty to be proud of, including dominating in an industry controlled by men and founding an organization that empowers young African-American women, “Black Girls Rock!” She teamed up with BET to air an awards show that honors inspirational women from all walks of life. Niteside caught up with Bond last night when she was honored by the Boss Network as an Influencer.
“Black Girls Rock!” empowers young women and aims to improve their self esteem. What made you focus your efforts on that issue? A lot of the damage that’s been done to our women and our girls happens through media. I’m in a special position as a DJ. I know music. I know hip-hop. I’m well respected in what I do, and I’m respected by men. So I was in a position to say, “Hold up, let’s look at this.”
How does the buzz around “Black Girls Rock” make you feel? I’m just grateful that we’re able to see visible impact. We’ve been having these conversations for a really long time and to have the platform of BET to be able to spread the mission of “Black Girls Rock!” made a major difference in what we do.
Were you and your team looking at Twitter and the Internet during the awards show? I watched the Twitter topics and how we trended. We were No. 1 that night. I also watched the reactions and the negativity -- there is a self-hate issue that we have not dealt with. There were racist comments but a lot of the negative comments were coming from our own. It was interesting to watch. But as the day went on, I remember people would change their perceptions. Today, there was a new trending topic as a reaction to “Black Girls Rock!” called #thingsthatblackgirlsdo. I was amazed.
With such an empowering message, why do you think “Black Girls Rock!” garnered negativity? “Black Girls Rock!” aired at the same time that “For Colored Girls” out. There’s a lot of tension on us and the issues within our community.
