Anthony Smith

Bio

Anthony Smith is Senior Staff Writer for Mic covering... whatever this world is becoming. He was previously Director of Social Media and Analytics and Digital Strategist for Newsweek and the International Business Times. He attended Wesleyan University and lives in Brooklyn.

Brittany Packnett on NFL: If you can’t handle peaceful protest, then what can you handle?

By Anthony Smith

Activist and educator Brittany Packnett has a simple question for the NFL: If peaceful protest doesn’t work, then what does? “If you can’t handle peaceful protest or silent protest, then what kind of protest can you handle?” Packnett asked. The NFL…

Brittany Packnett: Black women show up for you. It’s about time you started showing up for them.

By Anthony Smith

Brittany Packnett wants you to know that she doesn’t mind if you call her an angry black woman. “I am absolutely an angry black woman,” Packnett, an activist and writer, said. “You can call me that all day long. I am an angry black woman because…

We asked you to share your stories of living #WhileBlack. Here are your responses.

By Anthony Smith

In America, people will call the police on you if you wait at a Starbucks, if you ask for silverware at a Waffle House or if you play some golf at a golf course — but only if you’re black. Stories like these, where black Americans are perceived as…

Naomi Wadler: In a just world, kids could go to school without the fear of a bullet

By Anthony Smith

Don’t let her age fool you: Even though Naomi Wadler is only 11 years old, she’s starting national movements at a high school level. As the youngest speaker at the March for Our Lives, a massive youth-led rally demanding legislative solutions for…

Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner: Stop overspending on prisons and put the money in schools instead.

By Anthony Smith

For the last three decades, Larry Krasner has seen America’s criminal justice system take its toll on prisoners — all at exorbitant cost to taxpayers. “[I had] been in court for 30 years before I got silly and decided to run for DA,” Krasner, the…

Sen. Cory Booker: We need to protect Robert Mueller from getting fired. My bill does the job.

By Anthony Smith

There’s a growing bipartisan movement in Congress to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s job — and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is helping to lead the charge. “What we have right now in America is a strange system where a president can order the…

Ady Barkan: If you were dying like I am, how would you live differently?

By Anthony Smith

In 2016, political activist Ady Barkan and his family were enjoying the perfect summer in paradise. Barkan’s wife, Rachael, had just taken a job teaching English at the University of California. Their son, Carl, was born. Their evenings were filled…

Adam Grant has 3 lessons for any young person who wants to be successful

By Anthony Smith

Unfortunately, this isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. If your goal is to truly be successful, Adam Grant wants you to put in the work. “I’ve come to think that work-life balance is mostly a myth,” Grant, a Wharton professor and organizational…

Sen. Bernie Sanders wants harsh penalties for drug executives who mislead public on opioids

By Anthony Smith

For Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the question is simple: What did pharmaceutical executives know, and when did they know it? “Look, it is one thing if somebody comes up with a product that deals with pain and they don’t know that it’s addictive,”…

Ben Rhodes and Jake Sullivan: If Trump fires Mueller, it will be an emergency. Take action.

By Anthony Smith

Ben Rhodes and Jake Sullivan want you to know that President Donald Trump could get away with firing special counsel Robert Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. It all depends on whether or not you take immediate action. “The day…