This 15 Year Old Black Girl Is Not Ashamed Of Being Afrocentric
"What makes me...me" was this year's theme under which Google recently released their annual "Doodle 4 Google" competition where students from the U.S. 50 states and territories get to submit a drawing and have it be part of the Google homepage for a day.
This year's winner was Akilah Johnson who titled her drawing, composed of colour pencils, black crayons, and Sharpie markers, "My Afrocentric Life." The masterpiece took about 2 weeks to complete, although Johnson expressed that it felt like forever in her Washington Post interview.
"My Afrocentric Life,” by Akilah Johnson (courtesy of Google 2016)
This 15-year-old girl drew a very confident and telling picture of her reality, and even though her own art teacher, the very one who urged Johnson to enter the competition in the first place, thought that the image was too culturally rich for people to appreciate.
So what I want to share is his...if a child can be confident enough in who she is, and where she comes from, which happens to be D.C., enough to have her truth judged by Google headquarters (just imagine, Google is the source of all "knowledge" nowadays), then why are we grown ladies and gentlemen trying to be like everybody else? And the only person judging us is maybe the old lady down the street.
Akilah, the first African American winner of Google 4 Doodle, is presented with her winning Doodle during content ceremonies Monday at Google headquarters in the Bay Area. (photo courtesy of Google 2016)
We need to collectively stop looking at what everybody else is doing and thinking about what we think they're thinking about us. That's way too much thinking, lol. And not the good kind either. And you just might be surprised of how little time anybody spends thinking about you anyway, so live YOUR life.
Take the time to figure out what makes you...you, and then take the time to figure out what makes you happy. That right there is the foundation of your being. Then use that to build on and find out how you can serve and be of service, that's when you're life will truly find meaning.
Akilah Johnson gets a hug from her mom Tikecia Johnson after winning the Google 4 Doodle competition. (photo courtesy of Google 2016)
Eat-sleep-work, wash, rinse, repeat isn't all that life is supposed to be, especially if that "work" is a job you hate. Not only is there more to life, but there's beauty in it too, and my prayer is that you find that beauty and embellish it for the world to see.
You can also read more about Akilah and her "Doodle" in her USA TODAY feature.
Stay Blessed!