This blog is short of International Women’s Day but I hope you read it and can celebrate these amazing ladies with me. One day Ki’asia had reached out to me on Instagram looking for a photographer to shoot a group of ladies. After a little going back and forth I decided that this was something that needed to happen and I was beyond happy to donate my time to them. Plans evolved and we ended up here. It was a story that needed to be told and I was excited they trusted me to help tell it and meet these ladies! We ended up shooting on Ford Island, right where the hangers still stand from Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona lays to rest on the ocean side.

The story started in a Facebook group for enlisted black women. From there a group message was started with all the ladies stationed here in Hawaii. All in all around 30 ladies were brought together. At first it was just a great way to connect with other military females on island but quickly became so much more than that.

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You read that right, all these beautiful women are enlisted in our military. These ladies have outings, help each other in their careers, study together and give overall life advice to each other. They have mage true connections and have built solid friendships with each other.

This military life can be rough. As a military spouse I see first hand the hard work put in by my husband. Now add to that being female,and not only female but a female of color your now compartmentalized in one of the smallest minorities in the military. I give these women major props, I know I could never do it.  I have the upmost respect for these women who have not only succeeded but created something amazing out of their experience. 

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The joining of these Ladies in Red has drawn out a sisterhood that one member thinks all women need to experience.  This was when  Melannial Queens was born.  Shalonda wanted this shoot to visualize what Melannial Queens stands for.  Young, successful, evolving Black women who work together, celebrate one another and break down the generational curses.

Her podcast is going to be about the empowerment of women, dissolving toxic behavior and generation curses. Dating, parenting, mental health, social tips. Just about everything you can ask for in a podcast! All stemming from her own life as a women, mother and friend. I am so happy I got to meet these empowering ladies. I cant wait to see what great things they accomplish and to have something new to listen to as I work every day. I hope the next time we are together the entire group can make it and show what this sisterhood is really about.