5 In 5: Juneteenth, Talent of Color, Audio Tweets, BLM in the Smithsonian, Pride in AR

Each week, Padilla’s Insights + Strategy team stands at the intersection of people, culture and brands to bring you five stories that you can read in five minutes.

1. Juneteenth  

In celebration of the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth today, Google Doodle released on its landing page, a celebratory video created and produced by all black artists. Why should you care? Even though the federal government still has yet to declare Juneteenth an official holiday, the list of companies, brands and states recognizing it as so have grown extensively – along with Nike last week, now there’s also the NFL, Fortune, NYT, Target and many more. In the wake of #BlackLivesMatter protests, the world is finally beginning to celebrate and recognize Black liberation. [Mashable]

2. Talent of Color

A search hack for Google and LinkedIn has been created to help companies find and hire talent of color. Why should you care? Despite best intentions, it’s clear that industries and namely, advertising/marketing struggle to find talent of color. This search hack was founded by two women of color in the advertising industry and simply includes just typing in your search query (e.g. copywriter, designer, etc.) followed with the term “coffe3”, which will then pull up results with POC who use the tag to be identified in their websites, portfolio and resumes. Amidst the renewed call for more diversity in companies during BLM, it will be interesting to see if companies finally rise to the occasion. [Adweek]

3. Audio Tweets

Twitter rolled out audio tweets this week, so people can hear your tweets vs. reading them. Why should you care? Twitter has been helping people find their voice since 2006 with 280 characters or less, but with the new audio feature, there’s so many more (lengthier) possibilities. Naturally, musicians like John Legend and Cardi B are already loving it; but will this take off as the new way to tweet or just another shiny, unnecessary add-on? [Billboard]

4. BLM in the Smithsonian

Curators from the Smithsonian have begun collecting #BlackLivesMatter protest signs. Why should you care? Alongside a coalition of museums like the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), the National Museum of American History and the Anacostia Community Museum, the Smithsonian released a statement saying, “This coalition of museums will enable Smithsonian curators to work together with activists and groups on the ground to ensure that this grassroots-led community movement and pivotal moment is accurately documented.” [CBS News]

5. Pride in AR

Publisher of LGBTQ+ outlets The Advocate and Out, Pride Media has teamed up with Snap Inc. to create a series of five AR lenses highlighting diverse, queer-identifying changemakers who have been advancing equity for all people in every U.S. state. Why should you care? Though COVID-19 has canceled pride parades and celebrations around the world – the LGBTQ community is finding different ways to honor Pride month and those who have paved its way – in both its past and present. [Adweek]

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