• by Melynda Fuller , June 19, 2020

People launched a new digital series this week called “People’s Voices from the Fight Against Racism.”

The series puts black perspectives front and center as it explores the topics of equality and justice.

The series includes four first-person essays — from a faculty member at Rutgers University, who write about actionable steps to eradicate racism in workplaces; 12-year-old “This is Us” star Lonnie Chavis, who describes his experiences living with racism, a police lieutenant from Hawthorne, California, and Paris-based journalist Leila Roker writing about how to fight racism.

Kyra Leigh Sutton, PhD, is a faculty member at the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations, writes in her essay: “At one of the larger companies I worked for, several co-workers and I would contribute to industry blogs, write press releases and whatnot. A manager only had an issue with me, the only Black woman in the group, publishing work, not the others. He was like, "She can’t speak on our behalf." It felt like I was being censored.”

In his essay about being a member of the police force, Robbie Williams writes: “Even though I've worked hard on my degrees in criminal justice and counseling, and building myself up from absolutely nothing, there's still a possibility that on any given day, a person with racist ideology who represents a government with some level of authority or power could try to reduce me or my family to the point of death.”

The essays are accompanied by a print companion that will appear in the next issue of People.

Each essay posted at People.com offers suggestions for organizations they can support in the fight for racial equality and ending systemic racism.

Those organizations include Campaign Zero, ColorofChange.org and the National Care Mentoring Movement.