CBS News
Young designers push for new emojis with Black, mixed-race hairstyles
London — There are almost 4,000 emojis to help people express themselves online, but a group of young design students in London says none of them feature Black or mixed-race hairstyles, and they’re determined to change that.
“As a Black creative and someone who’s constantly changing their hair, this campaign is really personal to me,” said Olivia Mushigo, senior creative on the Rise.365 team.
The London youth group is determined to break down beauty stereotypes with the first ever emojis featuring afros, braids, cornrows and locs.
Catarina Demony/REUTERS
“I feel like there’s a negative stereotype around coarser hair textures, among like, Afro hair,” project designer Jayzik Duckoo said.
Team member Chavez agreed, adding that, “especially in a school environment, things like people wanting to touch your hair, talk about your hair — it will make you feel like you don’t belong.”
The students started sketching styles — revealing how they’d like to be seen in the digital space to tackle “texturism,” a form of discrimination that perceives afro hair as unprofessional, unattractive or unclean.
“There were so many different designs, it was so hard to just narrow it down to just four,” said Mushigo, “because Black and mixed-race hair is so diverse.”
Difficult work, but Duckoo said the creative process — designing the emojis, “was really fun… it was nice to see how it came out.”
Emojis were first created in Japan in the 1990s. The advent of smart phones and the increased use of text messaging led to a global surge in their use over the last two decades, and this isn’t the first time there’s been a push to make emojis more inclusive. In 2015, Apple created 300 new emojis, some highlighting different races and professions, in response to a backlash from consumers.
The London team’s four new emoji designs will be submitted in April to Unicode, the California-based organization that approves or rejects all new emojis.
“There’s a lot of history behind our hair,” said Joyclen Brodie-Mends Buffong, the founder of the Rise.365 community interest company behind the project. “We take a lot of time to do our hair, so for us it’s important to want to be seen in a positive light.”
Rise.365 has asked others to help promote their cause by searching “Afro hair emoji” on social media and search engines, to boost data around the query, which will help their bid when they submit their proposed emojis in the spring.
For now, they can only wait, and hope their creative and inclusive emojis will make the cut.
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Immunocompromised people who are age 65 or older should get a second dose of the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine, according to the latest recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a statement released Wednesday, the CDC said the second dose should be received six months after the first dose.
The CDC also said its recommendations allow for flexibility for those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised to consider additional doses (three or more). in consultation with their health care provider.
In August, the Food and Drug Administration greenlit updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for the 2024 fall season. The updated shots were revised to target the KP.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and medical experts say it will also provide protection against other recent strains.
This was part of a now-annual process undertaken by the FDA and health authorities around the world to update the vaccines to protect against newer strains of the virus.
Similar to previous seasons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all Americans ages 6 months and older get a shot of the updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against another expected surge of the virus this fall and winter.
Still, as another fall virus season approaches, not everyone is following the CDC’s advice. According to a survey from Ohio State Wexner Medical Center last month, less than half of Americans were planning to get their COVID or flu shots this season.
“Data continues to confirm the importance of vaccination to protect those most at risk for severe outcomes of COVID-19,” the CDC noted in the latest release. “Receiving recommended 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines can restore and enhance protection against the virus variants currently responsible for most infections and hospitalizations in the United States.”
The CDC also reminded the public that the COVID-19 vaccine can help reduce the chances of suffering the effects of long COVID.
contributed to this report.
Immunocompromised people who are age 65 or older should get a second dose of the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine, according to the latest recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a statement released Wednesday, the CDC said the second dose should be received six months after the first dose.
The CDC also said its recommendations allow for flexibility for those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised to consider additional doses (three or more). in consultation with their health care provider.
In August, the Food and Drug Administration greenlit updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for the 2024 fall season. The updated shots were revised to target the KP.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and medical experts say it will also provide protection against other recent strains.
This was part of a now-annual process undertaken by the FDA and health authorities around the world to update the vaccines to protect against newer strains of the virus.
Similar to previous seasons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all Americans ages 6 months and older get a shot of the updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against another expected surge of the virus this fall and winter.
Still, as another fall virus season approaches, not everyone is following the CDC’s advice. According to a survey from Ohio State Wexner Medical Center last month, less than half of Americans were planning to get their COVID or flu shots this season.
“Data continues to confirm the importance of vaccination to protect those most at risk for severe outcomes of COVID-19,” the CDC noted in the latest release. “Receiving recommended 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines can restore and enhance protection against the virus variants currently responsible for most infections and hospitalizations in the United States.”
The CDC also reminded the public that the COVID-19 vaccine can help reduce the chances of suffering the effects of long COVID.
contributed to this report.
