
Of the many emojis that have been requested since the little icons first became a part of our everyday lexicon, an emoji featuring textured, kinky or even just curly hair has been one of the most glaringly absent. I mean, we have "meditating guy" and "bearded dude," but no emoji rocking an afro?! What's up with that? So when Unicode released a mockup of its new round of emojis, including bald, red headed and natural haired icons, people were shook.
Though announcement came last week, people are still reacting to the news:
Here's your first look at all the new emoji coming next year https://t.co/14xTRgmfY4 pic.twitter.com/beho2CtoXB
— BI Tech (@SAI) December 5, 2017
Finally an emoji with an afro! About damn time! pic.twitter.com/OnMbmSVlds
— Daphne Karungi (@karungikarungi) December 14, 2017
THAT AFRO EMOJI YASSS THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO SEE APPLE THANK U B BLESSED https://t.co/DW0acuzyHj
— 🦆 (@iGreen96) December 9, 2017
There's gonna be an emoji with an afro WE IN HERE 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾 https://t.co/6h5LeuAx9U
— Jay 🌀 (@JayDeDron) December 7, 2017
Not everyone is feeling the look:
WOW. 600 years of asking for an Afro emoji and this is the nonsense we get 😭 https://t.co/y3wq2lJZlg
— Zanele (@ZaMhlaba) December 8, 2017
.... is that supposed to be natural hair? https://t.co/jvvXMfBTC9
— Black Girl Culture (@blkgirlculture) December 6, 2017
I know that first emoji not supposed to be an afro. y'all gotta fix that https://t.co/uFak1LMHwZ
— Shahirah (@_HotDamnSAM) December 7, 2017
They fucking tried 🙄 I want everyone who complained to create a better afro emoji https://t.co/ZMemHHc6Jm
— Respeck Takeoff (@7Days_of_Sunni) December 16, 2017
For its part, Unicode says they based the emoji off the fierce, voluminous curls of lifestyle blogger Ciara Anderson:
It does leave us wondering — are there any black women on Unicode's design team?
Image via Unicode