Tech Talk: Seattle student’s Google Doodle celebrates hair as her ‘superpower,’ earns national spotlight

A Seattle-area high school senior has been named a national finalist in Doodle for Google, earning a spot for her artwork to be featured on the Google homepage on April 28.

Kameirah Johnson, a senior at Lakeside School, is one of five finalists selected from tens of thousands of K-12 student submissions nationwide. The annual contest asked students to create original artwork inspired by the theme “My superpower is …”

When she heard the news, she couldn’t believe it. “I was so happy … I’m like grinning year to year, I was really surprised, and I was very thankful, very happy,” she told KIRO Newsradio.

Johnson explained that her superpower is her hair. And the art piece she submitted centers on hair as a symbol of identity, culture, and inherited strength. It depicts three figures, Johnson, her mother, and her older sister, lying in grass with their hair styled as crowns, reflecting themes of lineage and self-expression.

“Black here defies gravity, and it defies logic,” Johnson said. “My hair could be straight, could be coily. I know people with hair that you can shape and mold it in any type of way. And I thought of this as an amazing thing.”

There’s another reason hair is Johnson’s superpower

“Despite all these amazing qualities about black hair, it’s something that people are ridiculed for,” Johnson said. “It’s not the conventional beauty standard. Like all throughout history and today, black people are being pinned down for how they wear their hair and express themselves.”

Johnson’s Mom couldn’t be prouder.

“I really admire and respect the young lady that Kameirah is,” Simone explained. “The heart that she had for other people, the wisdom beyond her years, those are the things that really caused me to marvel about Kameirah.”

Johnson’s art took more than 40 hours to complete. It’s an interest that began in childhood and developed further in recent years, expanding into multiple mediums, including painting, digital design, and film. She also participates in dance and music, playing bass guitar in a band.

She plans to attend New York University in the fall to study economics and studio arts, with the goal of combining creative work with business and eventually opening a gallery.

Her artist’s statement reads: “My superpower is my hair and the family history it carries. Each texture and style holds culture, care, and survival passed down without words. 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.”

Now in its 17th year, the Doodle for Google contest will feature the finalists’ artwork on Google’s homepage, with public voting open through April 29. The overall winner is scheduled to be announced on May 12.

Each finalist receives a $10,000 college scholarship and a Chromebook. The grand prize winner will receive a total of $55,000 in scholarships, and their school will be awarded a $50,000 technology package.

“My superpower is my hair and the family history it carries. Each texture and style holds culture, care, and survival passed down without words,” Johnson’s artist’s statement read. “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.”

She told KIRO Newsradio she wants her work to challenge society while continuing to create art that empowers people.

“I wanted to make a piece to push back against all this,” she explained. girls and empower black girls and black boys, to wear their hair and be free despite the fact that this isn’t easy and the law isn’t rooting for them all the time.”

And she is doing that, one doodle at a time.

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