The Root caught up with a who's who of celebs at this year's BET Black Girls Rock! event at the Paradise Theater in the Bronx, N.Y. Songstress Dionne Warwick, who was the night's "living legend" honoree, reality star and VH1 reality star La La Anthony, actress Gabrielle Union and others weighed in on why black women should rock the vote this Election Day, as well as the importance of female empowerment amid a "culture of shaming."
"How can you complain about something, or want to change something, if you don't vote?" asked Anthony.
Union, an honoree on The Root 100 list for 2012, got into specifics. "If you believe that you should decide what happens in your uterus," the Planned Parenthood breast-health advocate said, "you should vote."
And the need for black female empowerment goes far beyond the polls.
"I used to feel like everyone was against me, and the world was against me," actress Meagan Good said. "But I realized if you let all that noise in and believe it, then that's the issue."
Watch below to see what else celebrities had to say about voting and black female self-esteem on the Black Girls Rock! pink carpet.
Black Girls Rock! airs Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. on BET.