Black women push for emojis representing diverse hairstyles

The group, based in Hackney, London, is advocating for a more diverse range of emojis that higher reflect the range of black hairstyles.

Rise.365, community support group based in London, tries to incorporate hairstyles comparable to afros, braids and curls among the many 3,790 emojis available. The organization launched the campaign in response to growing concerns from members who’ve experienced hair discrimination.

“It’s sad and disappointing since it just shows what we’re like [Black people] they do not really show up in vivid light because you’ve got a blonde or redhead girl, not only a daily girl with an afro or braids or something like that” – Reanna Bryan, 18, he said .

Bryan contacted Rise.365 after being told her braided hairstyle wasn’t appropriate for the kitchen at her latest culinary job. Seeing that many others have similar experiences, Rise.365 has launched a campaign advocating for more diverse emojis depicting black hairstyles.

“Black people, especially women, tend to have many different hairstyles, but none of them are representative,” said Amina Gray, mentor and youth coordinator at Rise.365.

“We need to normalize that our hair – whether it is in its natural state or after a protective style – is acceptable… it is professional.”

Young group members at Rise.365 were tasked with designing emojis that may help address the imbalance and showcase popular hairstyles worn by black people.

“I asked all the young people to draw something that represented them or an emoji they would like to see on the keyboard,” Gray explained.

The group narrowed their designs all the way down to 4 styles that best reflected the range of hairstyles locally: braids, afros, curls and braids. Vanita Brown, a junior designer at Good Relations PR, helped bring the sketches to life.

“Most emojis reflect the majority,” Brown said. “I believe that in the initial designs, black and mixed hairstyles were not prioritized because the creators did not necessarily consider or prioritize the diversity of black hairstyles.”

The Unicode Consortium accepts latest emoji proposals, of which only a small proportion have been approved for encoding. Rise.365 plans to submit its projects in April 2025.

“The four we have designed are just the beginning. [The campaign] it is an opportunity to teach,” Gray said. “I don’t want people to think we want emojis just because we want to be represented that way. This is because there is a much deeper message behind it – empowering people and helping them realize that their hair is beautiful.”