Tim Cook Addresses George Floyd Protests in Employee Memo, Apple to Donate to Equal Justice

Apple CEO Tim Cook has issued an internal memo to company employees, regarding the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis this past week.

As Apple employees began feeling unrest, Cook wrote a memo to the company’s many employees, according to Bloomberg. Noting that the company’s mission “has and always will be to create technology that empowers people to change the world for the better”, Cook has announced that Apple will be donating to a number of non-profit organizations.

Cook has said the company will be donating to causes such as Equal Justice, a non-profit that provides legal resources to wrongfully convicted prisoners without means of proper representation. Equal Justice also works with communities that have been marginalized and face racial injustice in their communities. Cook has also said that Apple will be “matching two-for-one all employee donations” in the month of June.

Apple’s CEO acknowledges the pain, frustration, and heavy emotions that many of the company’s employees feel. “For all of our colleagues hurting right now, please know that you are not alone, and that we have resources to support you,” Cook said. “It’s more important than ever to talk to one another, and to find healing in our common humanity.”.

Apple urges employees to take advantage of the company’s free resources including an Employee Assistance Program and additional mental health resources.

As he begins to close off the memo, Cook wrote: “As difficult as it may be to admit, that desire is itself a sign of privilege. George Floyd’s death is shocking and tragic proof that we must aim far higher than a “normal” future, and build one that lives up to the highest ideals of equality and justice.”

With many protests taking place in various cities around the US, Apple has temporarily shuttered many of its Apple Store locations.