SAN FRANCISCO — Akilah Johnson, a 10th grader from Washington, D.C., is Google's top student doodler.
Johnson's doodle, which honors her African-American heritage, is featured prominently on the Internet giant's home page on Monday. It was selected from 100,000 submissions to the "Doodle 4 Google" competition for young artists.
This year, Google asked students from kindergarten to 12th grade to doodle "What makes me...me."
Drawn as a box braid, Johnson's doodle, entitled "My Afrocentric Life," was brought to life with color pencils, black crayons and
"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 Johnson, who is the first African American to win the national competition.
Among those featured in the doodle are
How does it feel to have her artwork illustrate the Google home page for hundreds of millions to see?
"Amazing," Johnson, 15, said in an interview shortly after winning the competition, her eyes glued to her phone as comments flooded social media.
"I didn't think I was going to win," she said. "Then when I got up there and it hit me, I started crying so hard. It was unbelievable."
Johnson was one of 53 state and territory winners in the first year that D.C. was added as a standalone territory. Celebrity judges included the
The five finalists were invited to Google's
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Johnson will receive a $30,000 college scholarship and her school,
She's visiting Google with mom Tikecia Johnson and teacher Zalika Perkins and is already dreaming about her future. She plans to study criminal justice or business in college in hopes of becoming a CSI detective — and she wants to start an arts and crafts studio for kids.
"The reaction she is getting from this is so positive. I think it's going to propel her and open more doors for her," Perkins said. "She did a great job of communicating who she is, her history and her culture. She has a gift for this."
Johnson began drawing in second grade. She attended Roots Public
Her inspiration for the doodle, she says, came from the quote: "Be the type of person that not only turns heads, but turns souls."