Circle Of Sisters returned to New York’s Jacob Javits Convention Center last weekend, helping over 40,000 sisters come together to celebrate their power.
Produced by New York radio station WBLS-FM, the annual event is the largest in the city that is dedicated to supporting, uplifting, and showcasing Black women’s talents on the stage and in the boardroom.
Black businesses were everywhere you turned on the expo floor. Sisters of all shades could be seen getting their lives as they tossed glitter-infused liquid lipsticks, curl jams, and graphic tees that proclaimed their Black girl magic into the tote bags nestled on their shoulders.
Entrepreneurs and consumers weren’t the only ones in attendance though. Some of your favorite celebrities stepped on the stage to participate in panels, discussing everything from internet dating and skin care to balancing side hustles and making money moves.
ESSENCE caught up with the ladies of En Vogue, MC Lyte, former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kenya Moore and more of your favorite celebs to find out what the power of Black sisterhood means to them. Here’s some of the touching things they had to say about how amazing we are when we come together in love.
On What Black Sisterhood Gives Them:
“It means support. Love and support. It’s a lot of positivity in the room and I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences and hopefully uplifting some of our sisters that are here today.” – Kenya Moore, actress, former Real Housewives of Atlanta star
“It’s a connectedness to the community that we have together, to uphold each other, to support each other. We support each other in whatever. Whether it’s Black business, or it’s assisting our young Black women to get grants or scholarships for college. We can lend our support because we all have our own areas of expertise as Black women. Whatever our area of expertise is, if we can lend that when it’s needed, we can bridge those gaps and create a more solid foundation for our sisters.” – Cindy Herron-Braggs, En Vogue member, songwriter
On The Importance Of Being Vulnerable With Each Other:
“It means everything to be able to have support and hopefully be open enough to talk about things that another sister has gone through so that she can help me out. I think it’s all about trusting. If you can trust a sister to be open and speak your truth, she can possibly come right back to you with something that can help you through the scenario.”-MC Lyte, rapper
On The Need For Us To Stick Together:
“I feel like it’s amazing and we should stick together more. We should do this more!” – Lyrica Anderson, recording artist, songwriter, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta.
“I think that Black sisterhood could very well be the key to Black unity. African-American women, we’ve been the rocks of the race. Having nothing but love between us is like the key to whole community really coming together in love. I talk about that in my concerts all the time. Black women we gotta stop hating on each other! You know complexions, hair textures, size, it doesn’t matter! We should all love each other for who we are because that’s when as a community we’ll really start thriving.”- Vivian Green, recording artist, songwriter
“I think if we learn to respect each other and make room for each other’s gifts, make room for who we are and always remember that there’s room for everybody then we can embrace each other. We can support each other in everything that we’re doing.”- Rhona Bennett, recording artist, En Vogue member.
On Our History As The Foundation Of The Black Community:
“It’s a sisterhood that is united unfortunately of the struggles that we go through as Black women in America. When it comes to seeing our children killed, our brothers locked up, the injustices against us as a people, often times it’s the mothers and the sisters and the women that need to rise and be the strength. We’ve always had to be like that since slavery. We’ve always had to be the strong ones. I think that unites us as sisters, that’s what really brings us together. Now it’s even more important that we unite as women. Sisters are leading the movement right now. If you want it done right hire a sister.” – Raqiyah Mays, 107.5 WBLS Radio Personality.
On Us Working Together To Change Our Narratives:
“With everything that’s going on from #TimesUp and #MeToo and what’s happening in film and television, we need girls to band together. We just need to band like a sisterhood with female writers and just get those strong female black females roles in film and on television shows. So honestly, sisterhood means everything to me right now. It is so needed.” -Donshea Hopkins, actress, recording artist, Being Bobby Brown star.
“The power of Black sisterhood means so much because as Black women it’s important for us to come together and lift each other to support all of the positive images instead of all the negative images we see. We have to join forces, and I think we’re more powerful together than we are split up apart.”- Naturi Naughton, actress, Power star.
