Aiming to break down beauty stereotypes and make the digital world more inclusive, a group of young students and professionals from London has designed what they hope will become the first-ever emojis representing Black and mixed-race hairstyles. This project is a partnership between the youth-led organization RISE.365 and PR agency Good Relations. It aims to tackle texturism, a form of discrimination where Afro hair is often perceived as “unprofessional,” “unattractive,” or “unclean.”
Currently, there are nearly 4,000 emojis—symbols that represent human emotions or objects online—but none feature Black or mixed-race hairstyles. RISE.365 and Good Relations have taken matters into their own hands to change that. A group of young people sketched what the emojis should look like, and designers created the final products.
Jayzik Duckoo, a 17-year-old who worked on the project, stated, “These emojis would challenge societal standards that dictate hair must be straight to be considered desirable. I hope people wear their hair proudly.”
Four emojis were created, featuring afros, braids, cornrows, and locs. They will be submitted to Unicode, the California-based organization responsible for emojis, in April 2025 for consideration. RISE.365 mentioned that googling “Afro hair” could help increase the emojis’ acceptance, as Unicode considers how frequently terms associated with symbols are used.
Olivia Mushigo, the senior creative behind the project, expressed her hope that these emojis would make people “feel empowered and … actually seen.” Although she herself has never experienced discrimination due to her hair, she mentioned that her younger brother has. “My little brother will have an emoji that looks like him to hopefully boost his confidence and show him that his hair is beautiful,” she said. “On a more personal note, I finally have an emoji that looks like me, one I can identify with.”
A poll conducted among RISE.365 members, totaling 104 respondents, revealed that 61% had experienced discrimination or bullying because of their hair. A 2023 study by the CROWN Research Studies found that 66% of Black women change their hair for job interviews.
Vanita Brown, who designed the emojis, pointed out that the absence of such emojis is partly due to Eurocentric beauty standards being viewed as the norm. She also raised concerns about the lack of representation in stock imagery. Mushigo highlighted the diversity gap in tech companies, where Black individuals are underrepresented. “With greater diversity and inclusivity among tech teams, we will hopefully start to see more emojis that genuinely represent the diversity of the world we live in,” she said.