In their Golden Globes opening, hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler delivered a rundown of the five films nominated for Best Motion Picture—Drama. While describing Selma as the story of the epic march from Selma to Montgomery, culminating in LBJ signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the camera zoomed in on Oprah Winfrey, one of the film’s producers and perhaps one of the most important social influencers of her generation. Then Fey outrageously joked that film told the story of the American Civil Rights Movement, “…which totally worked and now everything’s fine.”
With current racial tensions across the country, the decision of Intel CEO Brian Krzanich to use the CES podium in Las Vegas to share his company’s commitment to spending $300 million to increase workforce diversity by 2020, with Jesse Jackson rumored to have been sitting in the front row, seemed wise. Technology companies have long been criticized for lack of diversity, particularly among their highest ranks of management.
Valleywag reported yesterday that Intel and many other large, successful tech companies do not observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as an official holiday, including Adobe, IBM, Qualcomm and Apple. Conversely, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo give employees the day off.
Rev. Al Sharpton reportedly weighed in, pointing out that Apple may be undermining credibility of supposed diversity efforts by not sending clear signals of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s importance. Apple featured MLK in Steve Jobs' groundbreaking “Think Different” campaign in 1997, along with icons like Gandhi, Cesar Chavez, and Muhammad Ali.
Apple, like many companies that may not observe MLK Day as an official holiday, offers volunteer days and floating holidays that can be taken at employees’ discretion. But few would equate an optional holiday with corporate recognition of a national hero. With Apple’s typical PR savvy, Silicon Valley gossip is flying as to whether Apple employees may have a surprise three-day weekend coming up, perhaps even including free tickets to Selma at the AMC Cupertino Square.
