Hair brand Dove and RISE.365 recently announced a partnership to bring attention to the lack of accurate hair representation in emojis.
Announced in a press release, the companies called upon Unicode to introduce four new emojis to keyboards to depict accurate Black hairstyles. The proposed emojis vary in representation, featuring different hairstyles such as braids and locs.
In 2019, a proposal was first submitted by New York writer Rhianna Jones, but Unicode denied the petition, despite the 65,000 signatures, claiming that curly hair emojis provided enough representation.
Since then, per Dove’s findings, 57% of Black people involved in their study said they felt “undervalued” by this lack of representation with 66% also agreeing that it would make them feel as if they were seen if new emojis were incorporated.
“Emojis are not just symbols – they influence how we see ourselves and each other,” said the founder and CEO of RISE.365, Joycelyn Buffong, per a press release. “For too long, Black people have been excluded from digital representation, reinforcing the idea that our features and identities are an afterthought. This movement is about more than emojis – it’s about recognition, inclusion, and ensuring that Black and mixed race hairstyles are seen, valued, and celebrated everywhere, including in digital spaces.”
The proposed emojis were first announced in 2024 with the community group Rise.365 first debuted them in October. The project was led by both professionals and young students who worked together to design emojis. While the students sketched what the emojis should look like, the designers helped bring the sketches to life, coming up with the final product.
Through the project, leaders at Rise.365 said they were aiming to address high rates of texturism, a type of discrimination that associates tighter curl patterns with negative stereotypes. Texturism exists in a variety of places, even those where there should be protections against discrimination.
Per a Harvard Business Review study, on average, 25% of Black women said that they were not offered a job position because of their hair. About 20% also said that they were sent home from a job position because of their hair while 66% said that they felt they needed to change their hair for a job interview.
Through introducing emojis, Rise.365 aims to address texturism by increasing representation.
“My little brother will have an emoji that looks like him to hopefully boost his confidence and show him that his hair is beautiful,” said the senior creative Olivia Mushigo per Reuters. “On a more personal note, I finally have an emoji that looks like me, that I can identify with.”
