Teen Wins Google’s National Art Contest With a Powerful Tribute to Black Hair

If you were among the billions of people who visited Google on Thursday (June 4), you may have noticed a striking image celebrating Black hair. The artwork won the annual “Doodle for Google” contest, which invites students from kindergarten to 12th grade to bring themes to life. This year, Google received tens of thousands of entries from students across the nation, but there was only one winner—a talented 12th-grader from Washington named Kameirah Johnson.

If you missed it, the image depicts three Black girls against a celestial background—one with loose coils, another with afro puffs, and the third with long braids decorated with cowry shells.

The theme for the contest was, “My superpower is ….” Kameirah responded by creating an illustration titled “Hair Power: The Crown That Grows From Us.” The rules required that the word “Google” be incorporated and prohibited the use of AI tools in the creative process.

Appearing on TODAY with her natural curls, Kameirah explained that she didn’t have to go far for inspiration for her artwork. “Being Black, growing up with a lot of pride in my hair” was a major factor, she said, expressing that her mother, Simone, was her biggest inspiration.

“When I was a little kid, I’d go to preschool, and every single week I would have a new hairstyle, whether it was braids, afro puffs, etc., and she just really taught me to love my hair and love my culture,” Kameirah told TODAY.

What makes Kameirah’s journey even more remarkable is her humility, revealed by her mother. Simone told the outlet that Kameirah kept her plan to enter the contest a secret. Surprisingly, Simone shared that she and her family did not fully realize the extent of Kameirah’s artistic talent until people began approaching her about her daughter’s artwork in ninth grade. When she asked Kameirah about her gift, her daughter simply replied, “Mom, it’s just a gift God gave me.”

Simone told TODAY that she loves seeing her daughter use her talent to make an impact. “I’m super thrilled that she is using this gift to share God’s love and that her talent and her gift [are] making room for her and bringing her before great people,” she said.

As the “Doodle for Google” winner, her artwork was displayed on the home page on June 4. She also received a $55K college scholarship, which she’ll use at her dream school, New York University (NYU). Kameirah told TODAY she plans to double major in studio art and economics, combining her gift for creative expression with business insight.

She told the outlet that she wants the doodle to help others see themselves. Her hope, she told TODAY, is “for a little Black girl to look at this and feel inspired, or really for anyone to look at this and feel inspired to live in their own skin, express themselves, and be who they are.”