While most people use words to express their feelings, Meridian High School student A’Niya Hopson uses her art.

“I feel like we need words to lift people up instead of bringing people down,” said the MHS freshman, whose drawing was chosen for the school’s Black History Month t-shirt. “A lot is going on in the world right now, and I feel like we just need each other.”

For Black History Month, students were tasked with designing a T-shirt representing Black culture. The winning design was chosen to be on a shirt, which will be sold as a fundraiser for the school’s PTO.

“I love to draw,” said Hopson, who comes from an artistic family. “When I’m not doing anything, I just love to draw,” she said.

Hopson said both the Black Lives Matter Movement and Black History Month inspired the design for the shirt. She wanted her design to represent all people.

“I wanted to come up with an idea where everybody could wear the shirt,” she said. “Not just females, not just males – so I put those two heads together.”

Hopson said she used the words brave, beautiful, and bold to represent unity.

“I feel like these words represent how we should show each other how we feel,” she said.

Tiffany Fisher, associate principal at the Freshman Academy, said she was impressed with Hopson’s design because it spoke to her as a school leader.

“It just rose to the top and spoke to the community,” she said.

More information:

The shirts will be sold starting Monday, March 1 and can be ordered in the high school’s main office or ninth grade office or by calling 601-696-7295. The shirts cost $11 for sizes small – extra large and $1 more for larger sizes.