November 6, 2014

Here’s a First Look at Your Long-Awaited Racially Diverse Emojis


Hidden beneath the doom and gloom that was this awful Tuesday was an exciting update on emojis: diversity is on its way and we have PROOF. Behold:

Unicode

Yes, on Tuesday, the folks at the Unicode Consortium released a draft detailing the surprisingly complex process they’re taking on to include more racially inclusive characters by using a palette of six different skin tones.

Unicode Consortium

“It’s about time. I didn’t have anything to represent me,” 14-year-old Shamar Cole told the Daily News upon learning this important update.

Alas, there’s no word on an exact time frame for their long-awaited arrival. But until then, let’s mobilize to get the taco emoji solidified once and for all. Because regardless of what my employer tells me, I love Taco Bell and my patronage could only benefit from a fun, short-hand way to let others know where I am.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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