The history of The Great Queens of Africa has been passed down through the customs and the words of generation upon generation. So it has been in my family. Little written history has survived, but what is known is that matriarchal leadership was not uncommon through many races in ancient times and thus it was on this magnificent continent as well. s I look through every moment of our history, we as Black women have worn hats. We have marched in them, we "sat-in" them and we worship in them. I remember my aunt wearing a baby pink pillbox with tiny silk flowers all over the hat, just to go to the market. I remember the First Lady of our church in a different hat every Sunday. I remember the first white hat my mother ever bought at the hat shop on Central Avenue. These are my remembrances. That which inspires me. And although hats change in shape and size over the years, one thing remains the same: Our love for them. They are our hats to hold on to ... Harriet Rosebud
