From box braids to twist outs and extensions, track pro and Olympic gold medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall has done it all. But “many of you have never seen my natural hair,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
In a rare look, the Olympian’s buoyant, face-framing afro takes the front seat, as she partners with Dove, RISE.365 and the Crown Act to bring Black hairstyles to the digital universe of emojis.
“With nearly 4,000 emojis available, there is not a single emoji representing real people with natural or protective hairstyles,” wrote Dove in another post. “Why is there a hair pick emoji, but no hairstyle to use it on? The importance of textured hair, protective styles, and those who proudly wear them, cannot be overstated.”
As apart of the #CodeMyCrown movement, a hashtag used to convince Unicode to add four new hair-inclusive emojis to our keyboards, Davis-Woodhall removed her extensions to reveal the curls we’ve all been waiting to see. In a real life representation of what—and who—is missing from the emoji library, her hydrated, shrunk texture describes the beauty of our afros—even in a time when we rarely see them.
“There are no emojis that reflect my natural hair type,” she says. “Or any of the hairstyles I love to wear! Let’s change that!” With over 100 posts under the #CodeMyCrown hashtag, the future of hair inclusivity means advocating for our natural texture—and all the styles in between.