Teens design new emojis to better represent black hairstyles

By Imogen Howse via SWNS

A group of teenagers have designed a series of new emojis with black and mixed-race hairstyles - so that everyone can feel represented when messaging online.

Research by Rise.365, a community support group, said it found that not one emoji features a black or mixed-race hairstyle - out of nearly 4,000.

This, the organization said, has left nearly a third of young black and mixed-race people feeling "overlooked and forgotten" - specifically because there were no emojis that represented them.

As a result, some of Rise.365's members from Hackney, East London have got together to create four new emojis that represent common black and mixed-race hairstyles: afro, braids, cornrows, and locks.

Rise.365 now plans to submit the new emojis to Unicode, which accepts or rejects new designs.

They hope that, if accepted, the emojis will encourage black and mixed-race people to embrace their natural hairstyles - after previous research revealed that 41 percent of black women and women of color straighten their hair to "fit Western beauty standards".

Rise.365 also hopes the campaign will draw attention to hair-based discrimination - also known as texturism - which is when Afro-textured or coarse hair types and hairstyles are viewed negatively, such as being seen as unprofessional, unattractive, or unclean.

Reanna, who designed the braids emoji, said: “Having these emojis made is such a big deal and a massive step towards encouraging people to embrace/feel comfortable with their hair.

“To be able to be the representative of the braids emoji is such a huge honor and I hope this empowers people to be comfortable in their hair textures and styles.”

Meanwhile, Joyclen Brodie-Mends Buffong, founder of Rise.365, added: “Black and mixed-race people across the UK are confronted by texturism on a daily basis and so we really want to start changing perceptions for future generations - starting where it matters most, with young people.

“Introducing these emojis will not only help more black and mixed-race people feel equally represented, but we also hope this campaign kick starts conversations around the bigger issues of Texturism and Afro hair discrimination.

“We need everyone to help us show Unicode why these emojis are needed, so please get searching, and hopefully next year we will see these emojis added to keyboards everywhere.”

Before Rise.365 submits the new emojis to Unicode in April, it needs widespread public support to convince the company that these emojis are necessary.

To support the campaign, Rise.365 is asking people to simply Google "afro hair."

This is because a key criterion for Unicode when reviewing submissions is the "frequency of use of the key term associated with the proposed emoji."

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