REJECTED AND RESUBMITTING PROPOSAL WITH AFROMOJI + DREADMOJI. Let's tell Unicode that #AfroHairMatters!!

Emoji are a universal language of self expression in a world that interacts in digital spaces. Afrocentric users don’t have emoji that reflect our natural selves as they mirror Eurocentric beauty norms. Afrovisibility is a way to shift global Black hair discrimination to to celebration and education. I am fighting for Afromoji because our hair and culture matters.

I submitted an official Afro Hair Emoji proposal last year for potential acceptance in their 2020 selection, along with your 65k+ signatures and a viral media storm worldwide. They rejected our proposal citing the "curly hair emoji was designed to reflect a variety of hairstyles." The message behind the campaign is that our hair is more than a hairstyle, but an entire culture unrepresented in digital conversations.

Afro hair has been long neglected in universal beauty norms, which you see globally from actors and newscasters told their natural hair is unprofessional to children being suspended from school for natural hairstyles. We should celebrate of the cultural and historical richness of our roots, onscreen and IRL! The addition of the Afro Hair Emoji would help diversify cultural representation and digital inclusivity.

Sign our petition to support the natural hair movement and empower more users to celebrate not only their skin, but the hair that they’re in.

This petition will prove the urgency and value of an Afro Hair emoji. Thank you for your support! Sign, share and tell your friends why #AfroHairMatters! ❤️

xx,

Creator Rhianna Jones @xx_rhiannajones

and

Designer Kerrilyn Gibson @kerrilynnoelle