man kneeling: dark skin tone
Unicode: 1F9CE 1F3FF 200D 2642 FE0F
Description
A man kneeling, depicted with dark skin. This emoji represents someone in a kneeling position, often associated with prayer, respect, protest, or submission.
Group:
People & Body > person-activity
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Can convey devotion, respect, humility, protest, or vulnerability.
Backstory
The base kneeling person emoji (1F9CE) was introduced in Unicode 12.0 (2019). The addition of skin tone modifiers (1F3FF for dark skin) and gender-specific sequences (200D 2642 FE0F for male) allows for more specific representation. Its usage gained particular prominence in contexts of social justice movements like Black Lives Matter, where 'taking a knee' became a symbol of protest.
Usage Examples
- Showing respect or devotion: 'Praying for you 🙏🏿➡️'
- Protesting injustice: 'Taking a knee for what's right ✊🏿➡️'
- Expressing humility or apology: 'I humbly apologize 🙇🏿➡️'
- Referring to proposals: 'He just proposed! 💍🏿➡️'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Often associated with prayer (Christianity), proposing marriage, or taking a knee in protest (e.g., against racial injustice).
East Asian culture:
May be seen in contexts of deep respect, apology, or traditional acts like bowing.