The People's Project

On October 13, 2025, Dr. Roxane Gay, the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University, moderated a conversation with “The People's Project” co-editor Saeed Jones, and contributors Aubrey Hirsch and Jason Silverstein. Their discussion delved into powerful themes found in the book: trusting yourself and your beliefs; collaborating across differences; learning through community; and envisioning a more just and equitable future for all. An introduction was given by IWL Leadership Scholar Azinwi Numfor.

Saeed Jones is the author of the memoir HOW WE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES (Simon & Schuster), winner of the 2019 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction and the poetry collection PRELUDE TO BRUISE (Coffee House Books), winner for the 2015 PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry. His poetry and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, New York Times, Oxford American and GQ among other publications. His recent book ALIVE AT THE END OF THE WORLD (Coffee House Press) won the 2023 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Poetry.
Saeed Jones is the 2024-2025 artist-in-residence in the Media, Health and Medicine program at Harvard Medical School. His next book HOME OUT THERE, a memoir, is forthcoming from Washington Square Press. He co-hosts the podcast VIBE CHECK with Sam Sanders and Zach Stafford.

Aubrey Hirsch is the author of Graphic Rage: Comics on Gender, Justice, and Life as a Woman in America. Her essays and comics have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vox, TIME and elsewhere. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Literature and an Individual Artist Award from the Sustainable Arts Foundation.

Dr. Jason Silverstein is a writer and anthropologist in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, where he co-directs the Media, Medicine, and Health Programs. His reporting and essays on racism, health, and human rights have appeared in The New York Times, GQ, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. He lives in Cambridge with his daughter and best friend, Mallory.

The Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair represents a collaboration between the Rutgers University School of Communication and Information, Institute for Women’s Leadership, and Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. To learn more about the chair, visit https://iwl.rutgers.edu/gloria-steine....