I watched Brandy and Monica close the Superdome with a show honoring both their catalogs and the history connecting them. Source: Bennett Raglin / Getty Images for ESSENCEThe following day, I watched Brandy receive the Legend Award at the ESSENCE Black Women in Music luncheon. Before I had the autonomy or language to manifest my womanhood openly, I experienced parts of Black girlhood through Brandy. Brandy, Whitney, and Chadwick left bodies of work large enough to survive public scrutiny. That matters in a culture determined to construct the meaning of Black bodies before Black people can define ourselves.