Ta-Nehisi Coates
#1 New York Times bestselling author of Between the World and Me and The Message
Chris Smalls
Labor organizer and president and co-founder of the Amazon Labor Union
Photo credit: Eric Kelly
Chris Smalls is the founder and president of the Amazon Labor Union. Under his leadership, the ALU successfully unionized an Amazon warehouse: a historic victory for workers and a titanic defeat for the behemoth corporation. The epitome of an industry disruptor, he inspires students, workers, and communities to use their voices to envision and build a better future.
-
About Chris Smalls
Chris Smalls is at the forefront of the growing American Labor movement. As an Amazon warehouse employee, he was shocked at their lax safety protocols during COVID, as clearly ill employees were encouraged to work during the beginning of the pandemic. After contacting local politicians, Amazon’s HR, and health officials, Smalls was fired on March 30th, 2020, the same day he and Derrick Palmer organized a walkout to protest Amazon’s complete lack of COVID precautions.
A chorus of politicians denounced Smalls’ dismissal, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Alexandria Cortez-Ocasio. Despite his limited financial resources and Amazon’s smear campaign, Smalls went on to organize the Amazon Labor Union. As the ALU’s president and founder, he spoke out against the systemic racism he had experienced at the company—for example, Smalls applied for promotion 49 times while an employee, but was never selected—and Amazon’s inhuman internal culture of surveillance. Through his tireless organization efforts, Smalls led his warehouse to a historic victory, voting to unionize by a significant margin. Smalls became the face of one of the most successful union votes in history.
Countless media outlets covered Smalls and his historic success, including the New York Times, The Daily Show, New York Magazine, and Fast Company. Fortune named Smalls a “40 under 40” honoree, and TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of 2022 alongside Derrick Palmer.
Now, Chris Smalls travels across the country inspiring others to tap into the power of collective action. He especially enjoys talking to university audiences and students about how they can raise their voices for the common good, connect with their local communities, and organize for racial and economic justice.
Smalls’s forthcoming book, When the Revolution Comes, publishes June 2, 2026. When he’s not traveling he’s usually visiting local picket lines or local unions.
Contact us to learn how to bring Chris Smalls to your next event.
-
Speaking Topics
Taking the Power Back: Labor’s Upsurge and the Worker-Led Movement to Organize Amazon
Chris Smalls’s fight for a contract will change labor in America forever. He believes that Amazon’s first union was only the beginning of a new movement—and placing more value on workers will help society as a whole. In this talk, Chris Smalls connects with communities across the country as he shares the stories behind his historic win.
Using Your Voice for a Greater Movement: Organizing for Racial and Economic Justice
Chris Smalls’ knew his voice was meant for a greater purpose. As the leader of Amazon’s first union, he amplified systemic racism within the company, bringing to light discriminatory promotion practices, abuses of workers of color, and oppressive surveillance. Now, he brings his experience as a historic organizer to communities, associations, and schools to inspire audiences to uplift their voices for change, in powerful talks that embody action.
Categories: Black History Month Speakers, Business + Entrepreneurship Speakers, College + University Speakers, Commencement + Convocation Speakers, Community Reads Speakers, Current + Social Issues Speakers, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Speakers, Future of Work Speakers, Law and Ethics Speakers, Social Justice Speakers -
Video
-
Praise for Chris Smalls
Praise for When the Revolution Comes
When the Revolution Comes is, like its author, vibrant and captivating. This highly readable account braids the story of Smalls' rough but lively youth with fresh insights about being working class and Black in America. The party promoter-turned warehouse worker-turned activist’s twisty memoir culminates with his recent labor organizing, which gave him a new sense of meaning. That feeling—of solidarity and power—is then transmitted to the reader. Smalls’ book is a rare combination—a unionist how-to and a rollicking yarn about finding your true self in unexpected places.
— Alissa Quart, author of Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford AmericaChris Smalls has given us one of the best autobiographies in American labor history, revealing with truth and humility the emerging consciousness of a young progressive, then elucidating with care the myriad challenges of a grassroots battle for workers' rights, one that has made him an inspiration to that struggle around the world.
— Philip Dray, author of There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in AmericaWhen The Revolution Comes is an honest, courageous, painful, and wildly inspiring story of one man's journey to make what seemed impossible, possible. Smalls leaves us with one of the most important lessons of social change—when we refuse to accept injustice, every day, and everywhere, for ourselves and for others, remarkable and transformative change is not only possible, it is inevitable.
— Alicia Garza, author of The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall ApartSmalls is a true inspiration.
— Lit Hub -
Books by Chris Smalls
-
Media About Chris Smalls
Request Fees
and Availability
- 212 572-2013
- Chris Smalls travels from New Jersey
Featured Title
When the Revolution Comes
June 2, 2026
From one of the most electric and consequential figures to emerge from the contemporary American labor movement, the remarkable story of his battle to create the first Amazon union in the U.S. and a powerful call to arms on behalf of the working class.
Similar Speakers
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
National Book Award-winning historian and #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist
Susan Fowler Rigetti
Author of Whistleblower