Danielle Oliver
Wakefield High School
Self-expression is a through line in Danielle Oliver’s life, and at 17, she is prolific. A member of the Alexandria Women of Color Writers Group, she recently participated in NaNoWriMo (short for National Novel Writing Month), during which she set—and surpassed—a goal of penning 20,000 words of her first fantasy novella in 30 days, all while rising to the top of her class at Wakefield High School, where she was a 2021 valedictorian.
Oliver has often found her voice through the written word. In a 2019 piece for a School of The New York Times writing workshop, she reflected on assumptions people make upon learning that her mom, a pastor, has a physical disability. Oliver helps out with her younger sister; some have asked if she is also “taking care” of her mother. “What does it say about inclusion in America,” she wrote, “if children are assumed to be the caregiver, or if people automatically assume that my father, who is not disabled, has to be both parents?”
She’s also an accomplished musician. During her time at Wakefield, Oliver played cello in its top orchestra, piano in its jazz band and performed a chorus role in a stage production of Chicago. She sang for a few years with the Children’s Chorus of Washington, where another formative experience prompted her to find her voice. While rehearsing a song about Harriet Tubman, she observed a lack of respect for the abolitionist among some of her fellow chorus members. In response, she prepared a presentation about Tubman’s legacy to share with the group. “I didn’t feel like I could turn down the opportunity to bring awareness and smooth tensions,” she says. “I stepped up to the plate.”
Now finishing up her novella, she’s been writing alongside her mom, who is penning a biography of Oliver’s great-grandfather Joseph A. Johnson Jr., a Christian Methodist Episcopal bishop and the first Black person to graduate from Vanderbilt University. “It’s been so lovely to bond with [my mom] over what it’s like to be a writer,” she says.
Looking ahead to Oberlin College and beyond, she is set on a life in music and literature. “I know things that I love doing and that I wouldn’t want to give up,” she says, “but I’m also going to be very open-minded to other things that might ebb and flow into my life.” –Eliza Tebo Berkon