Akilah Johnson of Washington, D.C., was one of 100,000 students who submitted their artwork for the Doodle 4 Google competition for young artists. And the 10th-grader’s art is now proudly displayed on today’s Google home page.
Akilah, whose art honors her own African-American culture, is titled My Afrocentric Life and was made with color pencils, black crayons and Sharpie markers. She’s the first African American to win the competition.
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The artwork depicts a braid that weaves its way around her various childhood experiences as well as present-day themes like the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I grew up learning a lot about my history as an African American. As I grew older, I realized that the black people that came before us has made us into what we are today, so of course I had to include them in my doodle,” said Akilah, according to USA Today.
Akilah, who attends Eastern Senior High School in D.C., will be awarded a $30,000 college scholarship. Eastern will be awarded a $50,000 education-technology grant.
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