“When the day came, and my name was called, I was relieved and honored because I knew I was a part of history,” said the 17-year-old senior.
By Angela Johnson
Charleston, South Carolina’s Porter-Gaud High School just elected its first Black homecoming queen. And it only took them 155 years to do it. I’m not kidding. Senior Amber Wilsondebriano made history as the school’s first Black student to wear the crown when her classmates elected her this fall.
“On Homecoming night, I took so many pictures with young Black children, and I want them to look at me and believe that this is something that is attainable for them,” she told News 2 Charleston. “It feels like finally I can give them some sort of dream, and help them, even if I get to just stand here and wear a crown, it means so much more than just being the queen. My win is not just for me … it’s for all of the younger kids.”
And Wilsondebriano is a pretty exceptional representative of the Porter-Gaud student body. In addition to holding a 4.66 GPA, her plate is full of extracurricular activities. She’s the co-president of the school’s Chinese Club as well as the co-founder and president of the Art Club.
And if all of that wasn’t enough, Wilsondebriano and five of her classmates co-founded the school’s Black Excellence Society, a club she says was intended to provide a safe space for the Porter-Gaud’s Black students to come together.
“There are less than 10 Black people in my senior class,” she told USA Today. “When we have our meetings, every Black student in the school can fit in one classroom.”
After graduation, Wilsondebriano plans to major in Painting at The Savannah College of Art and Design. She says she hopes to write and illustrate books for children after college.
Amber’s mother, Monique Wilsondebriano says that while she’s proud of her daughter’s historic accomplishment, she’s not surprised by her election.
“Amber’s classmates elected her not because she is Black, but because they genuinely love her, she told WGME 13.
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