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https://www.positive.news/society/emojis-celebrate-black-mixed-race-hairstyles/>
"Do you identify with vampires, ninjas or mermaids? You’re in luck. Witches,
fairies and Santa make the list, as do genies, cherubs and zombies.
There are almost 4,000 emojis to choose from, but for people rocking Black or
mixed-race hairstyles, the list simply doesn’t cut it. In emoji-world, it
seems, neat side-partings are all the rage. Afros, cornrows and dreads are
definitively out.
But now a campaign organised by London-based community project Rise.365 aims to
bring Black hair to our keyboards and touch screens, and in the process ignite
conversations around texturism.
“Hair shapes our identity and who we are,” said Rise.365 founder Joyclen
Buffong. “First impressions are often based on the way people look, and that’s
left out for us.”
The initiative was born out of conversations with young people about issues
surrounding colour and race in school, work and society in general.
Texturism – the word used to describe discrimination against afro-textured and
coarse hair – was one topic that cropped up time and time again, with almost
two-thirds of Black and mixed-race youths supported by Rise.365 saying they
have experienced prejudice based on their hairstyle.
“We know of children being excluded from school for having certain haircuts –
afros and plaits, for example,” said Buffong. “It’s something we are faced
with, but it’s not spoken about enough. We explored the impact of texturism in
different spaces, and the digital space was one that it came up in.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
