By Sean Yoes

Nine-year-old Sha’Miyae Hinton-Knight made a simple request earlier this month. “…I would like to know how do I get my article in the AFRO American Newspaper?” she asked in an email. “I live in East Baltimore, Maryland and I wanted to let others know that good people and good things are happening in East Baltimore.”

There is no doubt good things are happening in East Baltimore and Sha’Miyae’s victory in the National American Miss (NAM) pageant is evidence of that fact. She won in the junior preteen division at the local level. And because of her victory she will represent the city and state at the national competition, November 23-29 in California.

NAM is a program based on the foundational principle of fostering positive self-image by enhancing natural beauty within,” according to the organization’s website. “It (NAM) is a program centered around helping young ladies grow and expand their ideas about who they are and what they want to achieve.”

Of course Shi’Miyae’s mother SherWanda Knight, grandmother Barbara Knight and the rest of her family are proud of this talented young lady. But, she also makes the entire city proud.

Sha’Miyae, a student at the Baltimore International Academy Elementary/Middle, engages in several different activities focused on serving others, including feeding the homeless and volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House. She says she also started a business called “Gifted Hearts.”

“I go to churches and minister in dance and when they give me a love offering, I use that money to buy food for the homeless and give gifts to children of murdered parents,” Sha’Miyae explained.

“My platform is to let inner city youth know if they work hard and put their minds to it, they can make a difference in their community and their dreams of success can come true, no matter how young they are.”

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

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