Black Girls Rock! is an annual award show that honors and promotes women of color in different categories like music, entertainment, medicine, entrepreneurship and visionary aspects. Rihanna was given the Rock Star Award at the end of the show last night and earned loud applause.

”Thank you so much for celebrating us in a world that doesn’t celebrate us enough. The minute you learn to love yourself you will not want to be anybody else. Role model is not the title they like to give me… but I think I can inspire a lot of young women to be themselves and that is half the battle. Hopefully one day I’ll be raising my own little black girl who rocks.”

– Rihanna

There to present her with the award was activist, model and founder of the Diversity Coalition Bethann Hardison.

We spoke to some young fans about the importance of an award like this. Here’s what Muna and Dannia had to say:

”Honestly it means the world to me because it feels like we’re finally being appreciated or at least people are showing us love. Like mainstream shit and I think it’s dope that people like Rihanna and Beyonce are able to do that because I didn’t have that growing up. But I’m still inspired by them and I love the Black Girls Rock event because it’s empowering the younger generations.” –  Muna

”As a fan the importance of Rihanna receiving the award was beyond that, it’s something that me as a young black female can look at and feel encouraged. We’ve all seen the backlash that Rihanna has received over the years for being herself, for being carefree and for setting an example for young black females. She’s been snubbed and labelled as inappropriate and told that she’s not a role model, but that is exactly what she is. A ROLE MODEL; because she’s thought us so much by just being herself, she’s showed us over the years that being yourself is the best thing and the only thing that you can be, and winning that award last night proved just that; it’s important that black females are remembered that you don’t need to fit society’s standards, you fit your own. It’s important to remember that it’s okay to be different, to love yourself and appreciate you. Rihanna is exactly what young black females need as a representative; someone that doesn’t care about what others have to say because she knows herself and no one’s opinion can change the way she view and carries herself. Thank you Rihanna for reminding us that black girls do rock!” – Dannia