> It could also be a sign that people feel more empowered to express themselves in work

The cynic in me feels like it's a casual way for engineers to feel better about themselves.

It's no wonder to me that this "bring your whole self to work" nonsense sprung up at ad-tech companies like Google.

And by the way - the political stuff never is about anything that Google does. I haven't seen any tax law, anti-trust, or privacy protests at Google.