Chris Smalls Lecture at UMass: From Amazon to Gaza: Organizing, Solidarity, and Civic Courage

Source: Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Justice at UMass Amherst

The Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is pleased to announce that Chris Smalls will serve as its 2026 Ellsberg Activist-in-Residence.

As part of his residency, Smalls will deliver a public lecture, entitled “From Amazon to Gaza: Organizing, Solidarity, and Civic Courage,” on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of Old Chapel on the UMass Campus.

Smalls is a nationally recognized labor organizer and co-founder of the Amazon Labor Union, which made history by becoming the first independent union to successfully organize an Amazon warehouse in the United States. Rising from the shop floor at Amazon’s Staten Island facility, Smalls helped lead a grassroots campaign that challenged one of the most powerful corporations in the world and reshaped national conversations about worker power, corporate accountability, and democracy in the workplace.

Beyond labor organizing, Smalls has drawn national and international attention for his engagement in global solidarity efforts, including participation in the Gaza Global Flotilla, reflecting a broader commitment to human rights, moral courage, and principled dissent in moments of crisis. As the 2026 Ellsberg Activist-in-Residence, Smalls will be on campus February 22–27, meeting with students, faculty, and community members; visiting classes; and participating in workshops and conversations focused on organizing, democratic participation, and civic courage. His public lecture will reflect on organizing at a moment when democratic norms are under attack—when concentrated corporate power, political repression, and global conflict raise urgent questions about who has power, whose voices are heard, and what democracy demands beyond the ballot box.

“From Amazon to Gaza: Organizing, Solidarity, and Civic Courage” is free and open to all. Community members, students, workers, and organizers are warmly invited to attend.

View the full Ellsberg Initiative events calendar here.

About the Ellsbert Initiative
The Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy is inspired by the life and legacy of Daniel Ellsberg (1931–2023), the legendary whistleblower who released the Pentagon Papers to the press and public in 1971. In 2019, UMass Amherst acquired Ellsberg’s extensive personal and professional papers, now housed at the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center, internationally known for its holdings on peace, democracy, and social justice movements.

The Ellsberg Initiative is directed by UMass History Professor Christian Appy, author of multiple books on U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War, and recipient of the Chancellor’s Medal and Distinguished Teaching Award. The mission of the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy is to promote public understanding, scholarship, and activism in support of compelling, democratic, and sustainable alternatives to militarism, authoritarianism, and environmental degradation. For more information please visit our website: www.eipad.org