Black. Girls. Rock.

It's clearly no secret that my posts have been few and far between over the last couple of months, and I sincerely apologize for my lack of presence here. The fiery passion that serves as the fuel for my writing has waned to mere embers lately. However, watching Black Girls rock tonight inspired me in a way I didn't know was possible.

I know that I'm not alone in the struggles I face as a Black girl in today's society, but it's always easy to forget that my heroes struggled as well. They weren't always these trailblazing game changers. They were awkward, shy, lonely Black girls like me at one point. So to see these same women- Black women- standing on that stage and putting my life into words? It reignited that fire in me. A great, roaring fire of passion that turned into an intense desire to pursue my dreams with a vengeance.

I saw teenagers in my age bracket being honored for their passions and I just knew that I could be honored, too. I reminded myself that I have what it takes to make an impact on my community. Not in spite of my Blackness, but because of it.

No longer will I shy away from voicing my opinions and being assertive when necessary because I don't want to be seen as that loud, bossy Black girl. As Michelle Obama so eloquently put it, " [I'm not] bossy. I'm confident. [I'm not] loud, [I'm] a young woman with something important to say."

Black girls, our voices matter. Our experiences matter. We matter. And we most certainly rock.