Erica Smiley

Erica Smiley

Erica Smiley , originally from Greensboro, North Carolina, joined the "social justice movement organizing around affirmative action, financial aid, and to prevent the building of prisons and juvenile facilities through a broader statewide youth coalition."

Smiley sits on the National Committee of the Communist Party USA.

Erica Smiley is the director of campaigns for Jobs with Justice. She sits on the board of the Highlander Research and Education Center and the editorial board of the online publication Organizing Upgrade. In the past, she has organized with community groups such as Progressive Maryland, the Tenants and Workers Support Committee (now Tenants and Workers United) in Virginia, and SEIU Local 500. She was national field director of Choice USA, a pro-choice organization focusing primarily on youth access to reproductive health care. And she previously held the position of senior field organizer for the Southern Region at Jobs with Justice.

She is married to Amanda Devecka-Rinear.

"Confronting the Covid Economy—Women Fight Back"

On Sunday, May 2 2021, at 7 pm Eastern / 6 pm Central / 5 pm Mountain / 4 pm Pacific, join an online People’s World / International Labor Communications Association town hall: “Confronting the Covid Economy: Women Fight Back.”

Speakers: Carmella Carothers – Shop Steward & Membership Assistance Program, UNITE HERE Local 1, Haley Carrera – Community Organizer, Phoenix, Ariz., Carol Rosenblatt – Retired Executive Director, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Erica Smiley – Executive Director, Jobs with Justice.

John Wojcik Editor, People’s World, Vice President International Labor Communicators Association and Howard Kling Vice President International Labor Communications Association.

A Vision for Black Lives

An Immediate End to the Criminalization and Dehumanization of Black Youth Across All Areas of Society Including, but Not Limited to, Our Nation’s Justice and Education Systems, Social Service Agencies, Media, and Pop Culture.

Authors & Contributors of this 2017 report included ● Whitney Maxey, Miami Public School Teacher ● Kwame Torian Easterling, MD, MPH ● Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN, University of California, San Francisco ● JoHanna Thompson, MPA ● Nimaako Brown, MPH, CHES ● Thena Robinson Mock, Education Law Center ● Ruth Jeannoel, Power U Center for Social Change ● Rachel Gilmer, Dream Defenders ● Chelsea Fuller, Advancement Project ● Marbre Stahly-Butts, Center for Popular Democracy ● Rachel Herzing Soros Justice Fellow ● Mary Hooks, Southerners On New Ground ● Mark-Anthony Johnson, Dignity and Power Now ● Tanya Greene, Attorney at Law ● Daryl Atkinson, Southern Coalition for Social Justice ● Andrea Ritchie, Soros Justice Fellow ● Arielle Humphries, Center for Popular Democracy ● Carl Lipscombe, Black Alliance for Just Immigration ● Crystal Peters, Center for Popular Democracy ● Chinyere Tutashinda, The Center for Media Justice ● Malkia Cyril, The Center for Media Justice ● Pete Haviland-Eduah, Million Hoodies Movement For Justice ● Kesi Foster, Urban Youth Collaborative ● Montague Simmons, Organization for Black Struggle ● DeAngelo Bester, Workers Center for Racial Justice ● Dorian Warren, Center for Community Change ● Dara Cooper, National Black Food and Justice Alliance ● Brandon King, Cooperation Jackson ● Linda Tigani ● Anja Rudiger, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative ● Cathy Albisa, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative ● Karl Kumodzi, Black Youth Project 100, Blackbird ● Steven Pitts, National Black Workers Center ● Richard Wallace, Workers Center for Racial Justice ● Benjamin Ndugga-Kabuye, Black Alliance for Just Immigration ● Erica Smiley, Jobs with Justice ● Patrick Mason, Ph.D., Florida State University, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative ● Beatriz Beckford, National Black Food and Justice Alliance ● Rose Brewer, PhD, University of Minnesota ● Ife Kilimanjaro ● Toussaint Losier, Chicago Anti ­Eviction Campaign ● Mya Hunter, Spirit House ● M. Adams, Freedom, Inc. ● Jonathan Stith, Alliance for Educational Justice ● Lumumba Bandele ● Emmanuel Caicedo, Demos ● Viviana Bernal, Demos ● Damon L. Daniels, Demos ● Trupania Bonner, Open Democracy Project/Crescent City Media Group

Rockwood

Rockwood Leadership Institute November 18, 2013 ·

We are proud to announce the 2013-14 Cross Movement Yearlong Fellows. They completed their first retreat a few weeks ago. Please join us in congratulating our new Cross Movement peeps!— with Sayre Reece, Amanda Devecka-Rinear, Nicole Berner, Mary Nicol, Lara Granich, Erica Smiley, Mehrdad Azemun, Jodeen Olguin-Tayler, Mariana Viturro and Bill Dempsey.

Xiomara Corpeno we are a good-looking, intelligent and fun bunch!

Black Radical Congress

In 2000 Erica Smiley served on the Coordinating Committee of the Black Radical Congress.

“Forging a Black Liberation Agenda for the 21st Century”

10th Anniversary Meeting of the Black Radical Congress, “Forging a Black Liberation Agenda for the 21st Century” Black Radical Congress, June 20-22, 2008, St. Louis, Missouri.

Endorsers for the Congress included Erica Smiley , Young Communist League.

Young Communist League

In 2005 Erica Smiley was a Washington DC memberof the Young Communist League USA.

United for Peace and Justice Affiliation

In July 2007 Erica Smiley representing Young Communist League was affiliated to United for Peace and Justice.

Backing Obama in '08

According to a February 19 2008 article on Erica Smiley and the YCLUSA on New York's Columbia News Service, the organization was right behind Barack Obama;

This election, the league is largely banking on the candidacy of the junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. Smiley, who has been at the helm of the league for the past two years, noted that they will support any Democratic candidate who may potentially loosen labor laws and pass broad social reforms.

“Obama is an excellent candidate, but it’s not about Obama or Clinton,” she said recently over a breakfast bagel in a coffee shop down the street from the Obama campaign office in Brooklyn. “It’s about beating the extreme right wing; at the end of the day, they’re just playing their roles.”

The league doesn’t claim official ties to the Obama campaign, and the Obama campaign did not respond to repeated phone calls and e-mails to its Chicago headquarters seeking comment.

Rather than introducing its own candidate, as the Communist Party last did in 1984 with Gus Hall, the league decided to back the Democratic Party candidate who members believe supports the most proletariat-friendly platform.

“If we were to run our own candidate this year,” Smiley said, “some people would vote for him, taking away votes from Clinton or Obama, and McCain might jump in. That would be terrible!”

Smiley, who sported a red T-shirt with the words “Troublemakers Union,” said the league members fear that an official endorsement of Obama could hurt the senator’s chances to become president because a stigma is still attached to communists.

Jobs with Justice

In 2009 Erica Smiley served as a Staff Member for Jobs with Justice. Field Organizer (South).

Kentucky Social Forum

Steve Pavey August 2, 2009; with Fredando Farmer Fredo Jackson, Christi H. Ketchum, Stephanie Guilloud, Tashia Bradley, Monica Hernandez, Pam McMichael, Doanta Davis, Andrew Kang Bartlett, Fran Tobin, Angelyn Rudd, Mary Brydon-Miller, Rochelle Arms, Chris Hartman, Erin Michelle Howard, Erica Smiley, Tanya Bernice Turner, Shannon Garth-Rhodes, Carol Kraemer, Shameka Parrish-Wright, Khalilah Veneable Collins, Christy Pardew, Esteban Bartlett, Josh Jennings, Jardana Peacock, Carla Wallace, Dave Newton, Gabriela Alcalde, Janet Jenkins Tucker, David Lott, Kay Tillow, Jackie Floyd, David Horvath, David O'Brien Suetholz, Ellen Braune and Judi Jennings.

Philadelphia Social Science Forum LGBTQ event

On June 10 2011, the Philadelphia Social Science Forum, presented a forum for Gay & Lesbian Pride month as "part of our series on issues impacting the working-class community & families".

Panelists were:

• Rita Urwitz, MSW, VP of AFSCME District Council 47 & member of AFSCME local 2186
• Ed Hermance, owner & operator of Giovanni's Room bookstore
• Elicia Gonzales, executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative
• Erica Smiley, former national coordinator for the Young Communist League.

At Giovanni's Room, 345 S. 12th Street (12th & Pine Streets in Center City).

The event was sponsored by the Communist Party of Eastern Pennsylvania & Delaware & the Friends of People's World. "All LGBTQ, friends & allies welcome!"

Beyond Shell Shock

Beyond Shell Shock: Labor after the Trump disaster was hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Sunday, February 26 at 8 PM - 9:30 PM.

Hosts Bill Fletcher, Jr.; Erica Smiley; Bob Master; Neidi Dominguez; Bryan Proffitt; and Jeff Crosby;

Join us in this webcast to take a hard look at the place we're in as a labor movement - and consider how we can make the labor movement be a leading force in the resistance to Trump and the fight for a better world.

What's our strategy? What kinds of alliances do we need? Do we just play defense?

In the face of National Right to Work, vicious attacks on workers of color in and out of the workplace, escalating divisions in the AFLCIO and the Democratic Party, and more we've got our work cut out for us. Let's figure out how to win.

National Party Building Conference

National Party Building Conference Hosted by Communist Party USA and People's World.

Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 12 PM – 6 PM EST

Join Communist Party activists and members in a national conference. You can register here https:// tinyurl.com/ycdouk3y

The conference will take place November 11th to 12th to plan our work in the fight against the Trump Administration and its white supremacist ruling class backers. Find information here about how to participate. http://www.cpusa.org/2017-national-party-building-conference-resist-organize-vote-grow/

The conference will be streamed from Chicago to regional meetings in New Haven, Los Angeles, and Orlando. Whether you’re on the East Coast, West Coast, in the MIdwest or the South, you’ll be able to participate.

Those invited on Facebook included Erica Smiley.