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Articles by Eric Morrison-Smith
Staying Grounded When the Earth Cracks: On Political Focus in an Age of Overstimulation
There’s a question that has become almost unavoidable in movement spaces over the last several years: “What is giving you hope right now? Usually, the question is asked with good intentions—a way to remind people of their why in the middle of authoritarianism rising, civil rights rolling back, endless surveillance, and the noise of it all.
Past and Present: How the Montgomery Bus Boycott Created Modern Political Organizing, Built by Black Women
The Montgomery Bus Boycott is often remembered as a spontaneous act of courage sparked by Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat. But that popular story misses the deeper truth about how movements actually win. The boycott was not spontaneous — it was the result of years of organizing led by Black women who built the networks, infrastructure, and strategy that sustained one of the longest mass protests in U.S. history. That model of organizing did not end in Montgomery.
Another View: James Forman was civil rights leader who still matters today
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Movements rarely collapse because the enemy is too strong. More often, they rot from within — through the loss of discipline, morale and political clarity. The civil rights leader James Forman warned us about this decades ago. We ignored him. Forman was a revolutionary organizer, strategist and movement builder who helped shape the Black freedom struggle into something more militant, internationalist, democratic and explicitly revolutionary.
Why James Forman Still Matters
Movements rarely collapse because the enemy is too strong. More often, they rot from within—through the loss of discipline, morale, and political clarity. The civil rights leader James Forman warned us about this decades ago. We ignored him. James Forman was a revolutionary organizer, strategist, and movement builder who helped shape the Black freedom struggle into something more militant, internationalist, democratic, and explicitly revolutionary.
This Black History Month, the leaders of the past can teach real resistance
‘We need to go beyond the hashtags, curated quotes, safe tributes, and parades and learn about how change was actually made.’ Photograph: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive Nearly 60 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr posed a question that still haunts us.
This Black History Month, the leaders of the past can teach real resistance
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Why James Forman Still Matters
Why James Forman Still Matters Published February 7, 2026 ovements rarely collapse because the enemy is too strong. More often, they rot from within—through the loss of discipline, morale, and political clarity. The civil rights leader James Forman warned us about this decades ago. We ignored him.
Commentary: Why James Forman still matters
Civil rights leaders and clergymen among a crowd of marchers during the Selma March: in front, Andrew Young, Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; second row from left: James L Farmer Jr (1920-1999), Director of the Congress of Racial Equality, Bishop John Wesley Lord (1902-1989), Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968) and James Forman (1928-2005), Executive Secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Selma, Alabama, March 9, 1965.
Commentary: Why James Forman still matters
Civil rights leaders and clergymen among a crowd of marchers during the Selma March: in front, Andrew Young, Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; second row from left: James L Farmer Jr (1920-1999), Director of the Congress of Racial Equality, Bishop John Wesley Lord (1902-1989), Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968) and James Forman (1928-2005), Executive Secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Selma, Alabama, March 9, 1965.
Commentary: Why James Forman still matters
Movements rarely collapse because the enemy is too strong. More often, they rot from within — through the loss of discipline, morale and political clarity. The civil rights leader James Forman warned us about this decades ago. We ignored him. James Forman was a revolutionary organizer, strategist and movement builder who helped shape the Black freedom struggle into something more militant, internationalist, democratic and explicitly revolutionary.
Why James Forman Still Matters
Movements rarely collapse because the enemy is too strong. More often, they rot from within—through the loss of discipline, morale, and political clarity. The civil rights leader James Forman warned us about this decades ago. We ignored him. James Forman was a revolutionary organizer, strategist, and movement builder who helped shape the Black freedom struggle into something more militant, internationalist, democratic, and explicitly revolutionary.
Hope without struggle is hollow, and struggle without hope won’t last
When I think about where my real relationship with hope began, it was when I started hoping my father would come home. He was incarcerated when I was 2 years old. At first, my mother told me he was on vacation — afraid to expose her little Black boy to the harshness of the world. kAm(96? H6 DE2CE65 G:D:E:?8 9:> :?
Hope Without Struggle Is Hollow, and Struggle Without Hope Won’t Last – DC Journal - InsideSources
When I think about where my real relationship with hope began, it was when I started hoping my father would come home. He was incarcerated when I was 2 years old. At first, my mother told me he was on vacation — afraid to expose her little Black boy to the harshness of the world. When we started visiting him in prison, it became clear that those white walls, heavy mechanical doors and watchful guards were no vacation. I still remember what it felt like to be picked up by my father.
A response to governor Newsom’s executive order on boys and men - Capitol Weekly
Opinion by ERIC MORRISON-SMITH posted 11.07.2025 Capitol Weekly welcomes Opinions on California public policy or politics. Please read our guidelines for opinion pieces before submitting an Op-Ed. OPINION – Too many of our boys are dying—by suicide, by violence, by slow disconnection. Too many are growing up in neighborhoods abandoned by the state, locked out of opportunity, and left to navigate their pain alone.
Has America Learned Anything From the George Floyd Uprisings?
The response to the demonstrations fell short. But they marked the beginning of a new era that calls for action Five years ago, the entire world changed when we saw George Floyd’s body on the pavement, a knee pressed into his neck – a murder, in broad daylight. Others might have simply witnessed a horrific incident, but Black people saw ourselves, and what it’s like to live with a knee on our necks at all times.
What Does It Mean to Build a Country That Was Never Meant for You?
I (Eric) am the descendant of enslaved Black people and Mexican immigrants. My Mexican grandmother migrated here when she was eight years old. My Black ancestors were brought here in chains, and from what I’ve traced, they first settled in Virginia and Florida before joining the waves of Black families who moved west during the Great Migration. That journey eventually led to my grandparents’ meeting in Chula Vista, a small border town near San Diego.
Eric Morrison-Smith - Gustavo Lopez
Eric Morrison-Smith is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color (ABMoC), a California-based network advancing racial, gender, and economic justice through grassroots organizing and policy advocacy. Gustavo Lopez is the research director at the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color.
What Does It Mean to Build a Country That Was Never Meant for You?
As of June 2025, ICE agents are storming California farms, mom-and-pop restaurants, and Home Depot parking lots — chasing undocumented workers through blueberry fields in chaotic mass sweeps to meet federal arrest quotas. In Los Angeles, Trump has deployed thousands of National Guard troops and Marines to suppress protests led by immigrant communities and their allies. The headlines may be new, but the playbook remains the same.
What Does It Mean to Build a Country That Was Never Meant for You?
I (Eric) am the descendant of enslaved Black people and Mexican immigrants. My Mexican grandmother migrated here when she was eight years old. My Black ancestors were brought here in chains, and from what I’ve traced, they first settled in Virginia and Florida before joining the waves of Black families who moved west during the Great Migration. That journey eventually led to my grandparents’ meeting in Chula Vista, a small border town near San Diego.
What Does It Mean to Build a Country That Was Never Meant for You?
I (Eric) am the descendant of enslaved Black people and Mexican immigrants. My Mexican grandmother migrated here when she was eight years old. My Black ancestors were brought here in chains, and from what I’ve traced, they first settled in Virginia and Florida before joining the waves of Black families who moved west during the Great Migration. That journey eventually led to my grandparents’ meeting in Chula Vista, a small border town near San Diego.
Some California youth of color are stuck in endless probation. Time to end this practice | Opinion Original
In 2023, more than 10,000 youth were placed on pArobation, and 86% of them were youth of color. Current data shows that, on average, Black youth spend 10 months longer on probation than their white counterparts. Our justice system is in urgent need of reform. And legislation introduced by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, would do just that. Right now, youth enter a juvenile justice system that is designed for them to fail.
California should pardon inmates who risked their lives to fight recent wildfires | Opinion Original
President Donald Trump put his values into sweeping political action last month when he pardoned the January 6 rioters en masse. Now, California has an opportunity to demonstrate ourvalues by granting clemency to the incarcerated firefighters who put their lives on the line to save neighborhoods and communities, and offering them sustainable, dignified jobs.
Commentary: We cannot continue to ignore uncomfortable truths about our society
I saw the video of George Floyd’s lifeless body on that concrete, knee still to his neck, and like many others, I felt rage boil up in my chest. When that police officer — Derek Chauvin — pressed his knee harder into George Floyd’s neck, I heard my black brother Byron saying, “I can’t breathe.” As Floyd took his last breath in that video, I saw my black father James taking his last breath.
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