Chris Smalls

In the writing of your book, I can name him.

His name is Christian Smalls.

When you first met Christian Smalls, he was not yet a public figure, but he became so through his efforts to unionize Amazon workers.

What was it like to watch that journey? And I guess what did you learn about your time with him through that?

Yeah, it was incredible.

So Christian Smalls is the only person in the book who you will find out their true real name.

Everyone else, their first names are pseudonyms.

It was really interesting, literally even just, we were doing Zoom calls, right? And I could see the environment behind Christian on these calls.

And then the other thing is, I guess this comes back to what we were talking about before about intersectionality, right? Like the So it doesn't make sense to separate out this idea of like class and race necessarily.

But what's fascinating is that Christian Smalls, who is himself a black man, doesn't actually spend that much time talking about race as he's trying to get his colleagues to use.

Yeah.

And I think it's because, I mean, some of it is just strategic.

But I think in the moment, that was a good call, right? I mean, I honestly don't know – Especially considering in this moment, the DSA has a lot of the forward momentum, right? And DSA kind of bothers me, but that's neither here nor there.

But, you know, I mean, I would hope, right, with this kind of leftist resurgence and seeing the uptick of even... just small unions you know getting started right that we would have you know another another sean fain-esque you know type of guy like if you would have asked me five or six years ago i would have said chris smalls you know like sure um yeah

you

know

but as it worked out so well but i i yeah But I agree, yeah.

Those are the people that I think are best in body, depth, and spirit, like really rank and file, kind of rank and file militants.

Like what Chris Smalls looked like a few years ago, for sure.

Yeah, you know, I mean, I just, I want to see, like you said, I want the spirit of the man captured and the recipient of the award.

I'm trying to think of other articles they've done.

You mentioned they did a whole hit piece on Chris Smalls.

day before, I think, yeah.

That was sort of blaming Chris Smalls for, like...

Actually, like if one of you has read the piece, perhaps you have a better sense.

But I mean, basically like trafficking in this like incredibly racist, like classist, sort of democratic socialist, don't go after AOC kind of way, like you hurt the movement because you are not our good white liberal subject.

Today I'll bring you my one minute or two minute speech in front of 20,000 of my closest friends in New York City.

That was this past Friday night on stage with The Strokes and with labor organizer and flotilla hero Chris Smalls.

I will also bring you the video of the investor from the big short, the movie, the big short.

This is the real life guy who predicted the housing collapse.

And he's really been working to use his platform to try and both create change, bring awareness about the genocide in Gaza, about Palestine, so much more.

I can't even list... at all.

But anyway, he had me and Chris Smalls there.

Chris Smalls, you know, as the one of the only people to win a battle for to create a union of Amazon workers.

But I think we have, like, a Manichean view of key figures.

One of the, one of the issues where you and I were actually on the same side against both elements of the DSA right and the DSA left, was the defense of Prince Sm- of Chris Smalls, where I was like, you know what?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Chris Smalls actually probably isn't the greatest leader-

No

... of a union, but he was a stellar organizer to build it.

These things are stand-ins for different political tendencies.