BBC
Jazik says there are negative stereotypes about coarse hair textures that need to be removed.
For Jayzik, a young man with the community support group Rise.365, designing emojis with black and mixed-race hairstyles is about representation.
She told BBC London:
“Because emojis make you feel seen.”
According to the community support group Rise.365, there are about 4,000 emojis, but none of them feature black or mixed-race hairstyles, so Hackney members designed four new emojis to address this issue. He decided to address the problem.
Chavez said people sometimes make negative comments about his hair.
The company said the emoji design also features braids and locks, a style worn and designed by the youth it supports.
Chavez, a young man in the group, explains that the Afro hair emoji is meant to combat negative stereotypes.
“Especially in a school setting, people may want to touch your hair or talk about your hair.
“You’re talking about how thick your hair is and how it’s not well-maintained. It’s going to make you feel like you don’t belong and it’s going to make you feel like people are against you.”
Rise.365 surveyed 104 black and mixed-race members and found that 61% had experienced discrimination or bullying based on their hair type or style, and 63% had had their hair touched without their consent. It turned out.
Almost three-quarters (74%) of those surveyed felt there was no emoji to represent their hairstyle, and almost a third (32%) felt it was ignored and forgotten. I answered that I felt that way.
Amina Gray says the next step is to apply it to Unicode
The community group said it now plans to submit the icon to the Unicode Consortium, which will approve or reject the new design.
Amina Gray, Rise.365’s youth leader, said groups should demonstrate the need for these emojis and use search engines to help.
She told BBC London: “The next step in the process is to submit to Unicode, the governing body for emojis. That will happen in April next year. And all we have to do is prove to them that we need emojis. This is to show.
“What we are asking people on social media to do is search for afro hair on Google (Afro hair emoji) and that will be reflected in the data you submit on your application form.
“The more data we capture, the more likely our posts will be reflected in your keyboard.”
The community group’s efforts also aim to highlight hair-based discrimination, also known as texturism.
This is when Afro textures or coarse hair types or hairstyles are viewed negatively, such as being seen as unprofessional, unattractive, or unclean.
Rise.365 founder Joyklenn Brody Mens Buffon said introducing these emojis will “help more black and mixed-race people feel equally represented.” In addition, she hopes it will “start a conversation around the larger issues of textureism and Afro-hair discrimination.” ”.
Black and mixed-race people “face texturalism on a daily basis, so we really want to start changing perceptions for future generations. Starting where it matters most, with young people and Together,” she added.
