I use to wear flowers in my hair when I was 16. I chose the gardenia to enhance my simple bun and pearls. It became my signature. Oh, how I thought I was original! Ha! Little did I know the history behind the flower that I took for granted.

Family, it's Women's History Month. I thought that as Miss Black USA it would be a waste of a blog not acknowledge the beauty of this month. I must admit, for years I allowed the month of March to come and go without ever taking a minute to breath the air that my SHE-roes provided me with. You know, the air that God gives willingly, but oppressors tried to make us pay for? Yeah, that air. However, this year as your Miss Black USA and a TRUE advocate for the lives of young women, I could not let this moment pass me by.

History is powerful. It defines our foundation, and can set the tone for our liberated future. I learned while in Ghana a fabulous lesson: EVERYTHING has history and EVERYTHING has meaning. The Pain we've experienced: HAS MEANING. Our names: HAS MEANING. Our victories: HAS MEANINGS. The flower I wore in my hair: HAS MEANING.

Therefore I was not surprised to see Mo'Nique on her Oscar Night, wearing the flower that once adorned the hair of Hattie McDonald, the woman who won an Academy Award for playing a feisty slave in " Gone with the Wind".

I honor these two women today and their history. Sometimes we forget that everyone has a story. We all have had a series of events that have led us to the moment where the world celebrates us. We weren't there when Mo'nique, like many "Precious" young ladies, was molested by her brother. We weren't there when Big Sister Hattie suffered from Breast Cancer before it was popular, or when her Academy Award was stolen from Howard University during the race riots of 1960's. No, we weren't there. But TODAY, we can celebrate their history and how their history has enhanced the very essence of who we are as extra-ordinary people.

I haven't worn a flower in my hair since I was 16. But, I think it's high time I bring it back out. And this time I'll know that it's meaning runs deeper than the sea filled with the tears that our SHE-roes have shed in order to ensure that we could be here today.

Your Sister,
Shayna