Photo Courtesy of The Washington Post
Seven-year-old Morgan Bugg got tired of not seeing girls with “Black-girl hair” like hers on Freckle, an educational app that is part of her first-grade online curriculum at Edmondson Elementary School and decided to write the app creators a letter expressing her frustration, to which they responded.
Morgan had finally collected enough coins on the app to change her avatar, only to notice that the virtual store didn’t have many options for natural hairstyles like the Afro, which happens to be her preferred hair-do.
According to The Washington Post, sad and upset about her situation Morgan said, “There was no Black-girl hair, I felt super sad.”
Kelley Anne Joyner, who is Morgan’s teacher, noticed a change in demeanor. The educator pulled Morgan into a virtual breakout room and asked the child what happened.
After Morgan explained how she felt about the lack of representation in the app, Joyner asked her, “How can we make it better?”
The little girl told her teacher that she wanted to write to the app and express how she felt. To which Joyner responded, “Let’s do it,” vowing to write to the company on her student’s behalf.
Morgan also decided to draw a picture with different hairstyles to accompany the message because she thought “maybe they didn’t know what Black-girl hair looks like.”
She drew the hairstyles on green construction paper, including braids, tight curls, and her favorite Afro.
In an email to Freckle, Joyner said, “One of my students was so sad the other day, and I asked her why and she said, ‘well I’m sad because there isn’t black girl hair for me to choose,’ I told her I would reach out and see if we could get it added.”
After only having received an automated response, Morgan was bummed out. But two weeks later, Freckle replied with a personalized message to Joyner.
On April 20, Freckle emailed Joyner and said, “We have some fantastic news for you and your students. Our product team recently added more hairstyles to the Piggy Store based directly on your feedback!”
The Freckle support team even went as far as to have Ryan Blackwell, the chief revenue officer of Renaissance, the company that created Freckle write a customized message to Morgan.
“It’s your bravery and leadership that fuels us as an organization to drive our mission forward,” he wrote. “We are honored to amplify your voice across Feckle to help many girls like yourself and my two daughters identify themselves in the content we provide.”
According to a letter Renaissance wrote the publication, the company was inspired to not only expand its hairstyle offerings, but “we also added additional wig options, a wheelchair, head-coverings for students who prefer not to show their hair, and the ability for students to select skin colors and hair colors for their characters.”
After she got word of what happened, Morgan felt ecstatic with happiness.
“I felt so happy that there was finally Black hair,” she said. “I felt proud.”
“There are other little girls who will now be able to put on the Afro and feel empowered,” Morgan said. “You want to be able to see yourself to feel affirmed, to feel seen, to feel valued. These things go a long way for children.”
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The school’s principal, Trent Satterfield, said, “Our students come from a variety of different backgrounds, and it’s important to celebrate those differences. We’re always trying to teach kids to advocate for themselves and empowering students to right wrongs.”
Maya Bugg, Morgan’s mom, was grateful for the teacher’s commitment to her daughter’s dream.
She said, “Joyner could have brushed this off. She could have said: ‘You’re making a big deal. Just take what’s available. Morgan is going to remember that her teacher respected her voice.”
Maya said, “There are other little girls who will now be able to put on the Afro and feel empowered; you want to be able to see yourself to feel affirmed, to feel seen, to feel valued. These things go a long way for children.”
Morgan hopes that this is only the beginning of growth and inclusivity in Freckle.
“I learned that you don’t have to be an adult to make change happen,” she added.
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