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Apple is honoring Black History Month by releasing exclusive content celebrating the Black community and creatives. The Black Unity Collection will feature a special-edition Apple Watch Black Unity Sport Loop band and a new matching watch face and iPhone wallpaper. The collection also boasts content for download and purchase on all Apple products.
According to Apple, in-product features and activations will be available in February. Items will include a series of Apple Maps Guides created by the Smithsonian, TV, and film collections, and more.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney), Ghetto Film School (New York, Los Angeles, London), Music Forward (Los Angeles), Shout Mouse Press (Washington, D.C.), and The National Museum of African American Music (Nashville, Tennessee), were listed as the organizations that were able to participate in the creation of the collection.
The support of these organizations is part of the brand’s effort to support the Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI). The REJI grants have helped organizations committed to promoting economic, educational, and creative opportunities for Black and brown communities.
Apple Watch and IPhone
The updated Black Unity Sport Loop features the word “Unity.” The band uses, green, and black yarns that pay homage to the Pan-African flag.
The Unity Mosaic graphic “incorporates geometric shapes in green, black, red, and yellow, and as the minutes change, each number uses pieces of other numbers to morph into new forms.”
The image can be used as the wallpaper on watches and lock screens on iPhones.
App Store
The App Store will spotlight apps and games modeling creative solutions for Black communities in areas such as music, banking, and gaming.
Some of these apps include Dot’s Home, Goalsetter, Altro, and CapWay.
The App Store will also celebrate 50 years of hip-hop culture by spotlighting numerous apps that allow users to listen, watch, and learn the significance of the pioneering music genre.
Apple Music
Apple Music has curated a number of playlists and programming highlighting the numerous ways Black artists have contributed to music and culture across all genres.
Some of the standouts are the For Us, By Us playlist and new original episodes of The Message.
Apple TV
Users can view series and films curated by Dr. Jelani Cobb, Dean of the Columbia University School of Journalism and a staff writer at The New Yorker.
The programming is centered around “The Matter of Black Lives.”
Selected titles focus on stories that illustrate three specific pillars: “Freedom in Black,” “Love in Spite Of,” and “The Mosaic.”
Apple Fitness
Fitness buffs will get to choose from taking walks with some of Black culture’s biggest stars including Patti Labelle, or guided meditation with Fitness+ trainer JoAnna Hardy.
Apple News
Black newsrooms and publications will lead the pack during February.
Apple will highlight Black-owned and Black-focused media outlets on the feeds of users.
Curated collections will showcase stories from Capital B, Essence, NewsOne, Howard University’s The Hilltop, and more.
Apple Books
During February, Apple Books will showcase its Read More Black Authors collection.
Readers will be introduced to great new books and audiobooks written by authors that represent the diaspora.
Apple Maps
In collaboration with The Smithsonian, the tech giant created a series of Guides in Apple Maps to spotlight key landmarks in the struggle for civil rights.
The maps feature the paths of activists over the past century (1900-1957, 1960-1978, 1980-2020).
Users can use the map guide to learn more about the events, people, and places that have shaped the nation’s history through the Civil Rights movement.