By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Kameirah Johnson, Black hair is more than style. It is history, identity, community, and survival.
That message recently earned Kameirah Johnson, a senior at Lakeside High School, national recognition as one of five finalists in Google’s annual Doodle for Google competition. The finalists’ artwork appeared on the Google homepage on April 28 after being selected from tens of thousands of submissions nationwide.
“I knew about the competition for a while and decided that I might as well take a shot at it, because you never know,” said Johnson. “I was hoping that I would become a finalist because it is a lot of scholarship money, and also a lot of publicity as an artist because Google is a huge platform.”
This year, Google asked K-12 students across the country to create artwork representing their superpower. For Johnson, that superpower was rooted in the beauty, resilience, and cultural significance of Black hair.
“My superpower is my hair and the family history it carries. Each texture and style holds culture, care, and survival passed down without words,” said Johnson. “Lying in the grass, our crowns rest without weakening. This kinky hair refuses conformity; it makes us different. Shaped by our lineage, our hair is undeniably beautiful.”
Johnson’s doodle depicts three Black girls lying in the grass, each wearing a different natural hairstyle, including braids, cornrows, and natural puffs. The figures represent Johnson, her mother, and her sister, creating a deeply personal reflection of family, lineage, and cultural pride.
“The message behind it, for starters, was super high risk. But the message was to portray Black hair as a positive thing and put it in a positive light because the expression of Black hair is often limited,” said Johnson. “Black hair has been ridiculed so often, I just wanted to share that and put it on a platform like Google, to show other Black girls who have these hair textures that their hair is beautiful.”
For Johnson, the meaning behind the artwork extends far beyond the image itself. The experience of getting hair braided, visiting beauty supply stores, and spending time with family became central parts of the story Johnson wanted to tell.
“I feel such a strong sense of community when I am going to get my hair braided by Seattle braiders, when my mom was washing my hair as a kid, or even just going to the beauty supply,” said Johnson. “I feel there is just such a deep community behind Black hair.”
Johnson’s passion for art began with childhood sketching, but the Lakeside senior said she started taking painting more seriously during high school and throughout the pandemic. During that time, Johnson taught herself through YouTube videos while experimenting with pastels and charcoal before eventually focusing primarily on oils and acrylics.
Even though Johnson now works mainly with traditional painting mediums, the Doodle for Google submission was created digitally and required weeks of work to complete.
“The doodle took me over 40 hours to create. The hardest part of creating it was definitely just the actual process,” said Johnson. “I had to draw it, render it digitally, and put filters over it. And then I drew each of the girls individually and put them into the background.”
As Johnson’s artistic abilities continued to grow, art also became a way to process emotions, express ideas, and explore issues that matter personally.
“It is so important. It is what I am going to school for,” said Johnson. “Anything that I feel passionately about, whether it is a social issue or something that has happened in my life, the best way I know how to process my emotions and my passion is channeling it through art.”
Johnson has been accepted to New York University, where Johnson plans to study art and economics.
The recognition from Google has only strengthened Johnson’s confidence as an artist and reinforced the importance of creating work that reflects identity and lived experience.
“I remember when my teacher told me that I was a finalist, I initially thought something was wrong because they had asked to speak with me,” said Johnson. “But then I found out that I was a finalist, and I called my mom and 20 other family members because I was so excited.”
Johnson said the support received throughout the competition has made the experience especially meaningful.
“Just knowing that there are people out there who value the type of art that I am creating and want to create feels amazing,” said Johnson. “I have always wanted to be an artist; it is my goal.”
For Johnson, having artwork celebrating Black identity and natural hair displayed on one of the world’s largest digital platforms carries significance beyond personal achievement.
“Black hair has been ridiculed so often,” said Johnson. “I just wanted to show other Black girls who have these hair textures that their hair is beautiful.”
Johnson has already received a $10,000 college scholarship and a Chromebook as a finalist. If Johnson wins the competition, the scholarship award would increase to $55,000, and Lakeside High School would receive a $50,000 technology package from Google.
