Who: Wieden+Kennedy art director Momo Pixel
What: Her 8-bit web game Hair Nah!
Why we care: As if some prophetess of white people shenanigans, Wieden+Kennedy art director Momo Pixel’s web game Hair Nah!, in which you play a black woman swatting away those problematic paws gunning for the glory that sits atop your head, comes at a time where there’s renewed focus on what to do and what not to do with black women’s hair. Then again, when has this not been an issue?
So I made a game cause I got tired of women putting their hands in my hair. 🤷 https://t.co/q0M3i4Pwoh #donttouchmyhair #hairnah pic.twitter.com/9wsvIHbEMe
— ✨Momo Pixel✨ (@MomoUhOh) November 15, 2017
Recently, magazines Grazia and London Evening Standard came under fire for altering the hair styles of Lupita Nyong’o and Solange Knowles, respectively. Yes, no one physically touched either Knowles’s or Nyong’o’s hair. However, the idea of denying a woman, more specifically a black woman, autonomy over her hair was and will always be an issue. Call it an editorial style choice or call it innocent curiosity to see what the textures of twists, Bantu knots, Afros, etc. feel like, but you may not touch a black woman’s hair without express permission . . . period.
“It’s literally happened to every black girl I’ve met. Even while making this game it happened to me, multiple times. And I’m just like, ‘Come on! When does it stop?'” Momo said in a statement. “Working on this game was such a breath of fresh air because it’s like, finally! I get to tell you, ‘No, stop touching me. Respect my space,’ before it happens–and in the most fun, chill, hilarious way.”
Play Hair Nah! here. Warning: All this woke slapping is highly addictive.
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