Chris Smalls

When 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

Chris 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

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 America

A Story About Capitalism

The outrageous, jaw-dropping true story of the man who took on a corporate giant – and won. 
 
A dedicated and experienced Amazon employee, Chris Smalls had begun to feel frustrated by the inner workings of the retail giant – he kept being passed over for promotion, with little to no explanation. So when his colleagues and friends began falling ill in the Covid pandemic, and with no assurances of safety or even sick leave from the top, he made the only choice left available to him. He staged a walkout with friend Derrick Palmer, eventually finding himself on the picket line without a job. 
 
What began as a demand to keep essential employees safe in a crisis would grow into a movement devoted to achieving dignity and security for the wage worker, triggering a groundswell of organizers at Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, Apple – and across the world. We follow Smalls’s years of sacrifice and economic uncertainty as a father of three, from fighting warehouse managerial politics in an effort to make ends meet, to his ascension as the leader of a new generation’s labour movement. 
 
When the Revolution Comes is the riveting inside story of how a young Black man from Hackensack, NJ with little-to-no resources led a scrappy band of Staten Island warehouse workers in an improbable fight against Amazon to create its first Labor Union. An exposé of life lived in the laboratory of capitalism and a terrifying depiction of what it’s like to be working class in America, this book tells a new, empowering story of what is possible when the overworked, underpaid and disempowered join together, forming a movement born in community.

Chris Smalls

Praise for When the Revolution Comes

When 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 im ...

Chris 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 chal ...

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 cl ...

When 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 im ...

Chris 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 chal ...

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 cl ...

When 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 im ...

Chris 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 chal ...

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 cl ...

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter