Apple honors Martin Luther King Day with website splash image
Apple on Monday acknowledged the Martin Luther King holiday in the U.S. with an image on its website, featuring a photo of the civil rights activist alongside a famous quote.
"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'," the quote reads.
Apple now appears to be regularly marking the holiday by changing its website. The iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and the App Store have been left unaltered, however. Last year Apple additionally urged its employees to do volunteer work, and donate $50 to charity for each hour done, but it's not known if this policy is in effect for 2016.
CEO Tim Cook is strong backer of civil rights causes, at least in the U.S. He regularly donates to the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization, from which he also recently received a "Ripple of Hope" award. He has also supported LGBT rights, for instance by making speeches and participating in San Francisco's Pride Parade.
On the matter of racial equality, Cook and Apple have been working to increase the diversity of its American workforce, which still skews predominantly white and male, especially in its upper ranks. The company is, however, asking shareholders to vote against a measure which would require more non-white people to be brought into its elite circles.
"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'," the quote reads.
Apple now appears to be regularly marking the holiday by changing its website. The iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and the App Store have been left unaltered, however. Last year Apple additionally urged its employees to do volunteer work, and donate $50 to charity for each hour done, but it's not known if this policy is in effect for 2016.
CEO Tim Cook is strong backer of civil rights causes, at least in the U.S. He regularly donates to the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization, from which he also recently received a "Ripple of Hope" award. He has also supported LGBT rights, for instance by making speeches and participating in San Francisco's Pride Parade.
On the matter of racial equality, Cook and Apple have been working to increase the diversity of its American workforce, which still skews predominantly white and male, especially in its upper ranks. The company is, however, asking shareholders to vote against a measure which would require more non-white people to be brought into its elite circles.
Comments
But why not Bowie last week? Apple - cough - Music?
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/mlking.asp
Interesting insight on Apple's recognition of the MLK holiday:
Over the weekend, some Apple employees were surprised to discover that the company now recognizes Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday.
This is a first. Last year, instead of paid time-off, Apple donated $50 per hour for volunteer work employees performed as part of its gift matching program.
The delay in embracing the national holiday is ironic considering how much Apple (and other tech companies) have talked about hiring diversity and other civil rights issue in the past few years. It’s doubly ironic given that Apple has used images and quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. in its commercials for more than a decade. [ ... ]
I guess that's progress.