High school sophomore Akilah Johnson was the winner of the 2016 Doodle 4 Google contest. She beat out about 100,000 school-aged children from across the country with her creation, which was displayed on the Google homepage on March 21.
“I was so excited, I started crying,” Johnson told The Washington Post on Monday. “I didn’t even look at anybody — I was just looking at the framed copy [of the Doodle] they gave me.”
The Eastern Senior High School student was the first Washington, D.C. resident to win the honor, as this was the first time in the 8 years of the contest’s existence that the District has been eligible to participate.
Johnson’s artwork is entitled “My Afrocentric Life” and follows the competition’s 2016 theme, “What makes me…me.” It is loaded with symbolism that has long been significant in the Black American community, from a drawing of the African continent, to a Black Power fist, an ankh, and the Egyptian Eye of Horus. The most striking aspects of the picture are the long box braid and the image of Johnson that make up the word “Google.”
“I based this picture off my lifestyle,” she told the tech company.
As a younger child, she attended an African-centered school in Northwest Washington called Roots Public Charter School. She credits the institution with helping to raise her in an “Afrocentric lifestyle.”
“One of my teachers from Roots, Baba Camera, is really [who] made me look at art in a different way,” Johnson said. “As I grew older, I … realized that the Black people [who] came before us … made us into what we are today, so of course I had to include them in some way.”
The teen has received several words of praise for her win. The White House HBCUs Twitter page wrote, “Congratulations Akilah! Your winning @google doodle is so awesome. You rep @EasternHS and @dcpublicschools so well.” She was also congratulated via Twitter by DC Public Schools and Eastern High School.
Johnson says that although it took her a total of two weeks to finish the masterpiece, she can pinpoint just a few symbols that were the most significant to her.
“… The six most special [symbols] to me are the Symbol of Life [the ankh], the African continent, where everything began for me and my ancestors, the Eye of Horus, the word ‘power’ drawn in black, the woman’s fist based on one of my favorite artist’s works, and the D.C. flag — because I’m a Washingtonian at heart and I love my city with everything in me!”
Not only was Johnson’s work of art exposed for millions to see, but she will also be honored with a $30,000 college scholarship, her high school will receive a $50,000 grant to dedicate toward it’s computer and technology department, and she will visit Google headquarters to meet professional artists.
Congratulations, Akilah Johnson!
