Interactive game 'Hair Nah' made by Wieden art director swats the microaggression of touching black women's hair
The anti-microaggression travel game, created by Wieden+Kennedy art director Momo Pixel garnered the support of agency-made blog On She Goes, and the Portland shop itself.
A game that swats away at microaggressions, 'On She Goes' launches Hair Nah for their female travelers of color.
The tgame was made to address the issue of people reaching for and touching black women’s hair without permission.
‘Hair Nah!” was created and developed by Pixel, in conjunction with another agency team. It centers around Aeva, a young traveler who’s consistently accosted by reaching hands as she tries to catch her flight. Players get to choose Aeva’s hairstyle and help her swat away the oncoming fingertips.
This project caught the attention of recently-made travel blog On She Goes, which was created with the purpose of spotlighting and publishing pieces of work by creative women of color.
With this game, Momo hopes to push this hair conversation further, not just with black hair, but with other forms of microaggressions. “The moment someone mentions my hair, I grab it to claim ownership. I even have responses prepared and dance moves for when drunk white women start dancing near me, talking about I’m a unicorn,” said the art director. “There are countless videos, hella memes, Solange made a song, now there is this game. So if folks don’t get it, it’s because they don’t want to.”
Momo though addressing this in an interactive format will make issues of personal space in the black community “more digestible to some people, obvious to others, a wake-up call to some, and a sigh of relief for a lot.”
When Aeva arrives, the message appears: "The game is over, but this experience isn't. This is an issue that black women come across on a daily basis." By literally (and figuratively) swatting away this microaggression, 'Hair Nah' is hoping to open greater, more interactive conversations around culture and inclusive environments.