Google will publish a drawing of a girl killed in the Uvalde shooting
Alithia Haven Ramírez was a 10-year-old girl who lived in Uvalde Texas. At her young age, she wanted to be known by the world when they saw her drawings and in this case Google agreed to fulfill her dream.
Alithia was killed along with her classmates in a shooting last May at Robb Elementary School, which killed 19 children and two adults. Alithia's father, Ryan Ramirez, found out 12 hours later.
Ramírez described her daughter as “very adorable and kind, she always had a crayon in her hand, giving her all.” President Joe Biden, when visiting Uvalde, told Ryan that he would have one of Alithia's drawings hanging in the White House from now on.
It should be noted that the girl submitted her drawing before the deadline in March and it consists of a girl sitting on a sofa, along with her pet and two balls of wool. In his presentation he stated:
"I want the world to see my art and show the world what I can do, I want people to be happy when they see my passion in art."
It is worth noting that this year, the “Doodle for Google” contest turns 14 years old and the theme used will be self-care. Typically, they allow kids to "show off their own creativity with the Doodle on Google.com and win awesome prizes along the way," the internet search giant explains.
Earlier this year, Google asked students to submit their creations for the contest, with the addition that the winner would see their work on the search engine page for 24 hours and also win great prizes.
For this occasion, the judges were made up of Selena Gómez, renowned actress and singer; Elyse Fox, mental health activist and Juliana Urtubey, the teacher of the year 2021.
The three took it upon themselves to filter the drawings and chose 54 state and territory winners. Google users then voted on the five finalists to be announced next week.
July 28 is the day chosen to announce the five finalists, while the winner will be chosen in August, Colette Garcia, a Google spokeswoman, reported by email.
It should be noted that the finalists will receive a US$5,000 university scholarship, while the winner will receive a US$30,000 scholarship and a US$50,000 technology package for their school.
Alithia's drawing was not chosen for the final round, however, Google announced that it will publish her drawing on a special page created for her and the other victims of the Uvalde shooting.
“We are committed to honoring those wishes and his legacy. His story and his art have moved us deeply, and we wanted to honor his family's request to share his unique talent, which was so tragically taken from him as a result of senseless violence," Garcia said.