On this page you will find biographies for In This Together 2024 participants and resources for learning about and combating racism and hate.
Poet Biographies
Ruchi Chopra is a former journalist, an artisan jewelry designer, a part-time teacher, and a published author. Her writings draw on her experiences as a South Asian with ancestry rooted in India’s pre-Partition era. She grew up in India and now lives in Ohio with her family. Ruchi is passionate about poetry and storytelling as a medium for creating awareness of sociocultural, human rights, gender, and environmental issues. Her work explores longing, hope, resistance, diaspora, and exile themes and draws inspiration from the migrant’s roots. Her poetry is a lived experience from oral storytelling, lineages, photographs, memories, traditions, and community and family longing through the lens of a South Asian woman of color.
Gary Huskisson is a storyteller, poet, activist, published author, and Pic n Mix event organizer from Peterborough in the United Kingdom. Gary likes specializing in jazz poetry, which fuses his love for jazz and poetry, as well as organizing Pic n Mix events. He and his sons created SAY IT LOUDER, an art and activism project with the purpose of initiating everlasting change in relation to systemic racism. The premise for Gary’s writing and performance is to evoke emotion with a joyful irony, and he wants his work to be shared by everyone! Gary views stories and poetry as everlasting gifts for the heart and soul.
Scott Ruescher has been writing poems on social justice themes, including descriptive poems illustrating issues of race and class in central Ohio, for many years. Some of them appear in his 2017 book Waiting for the Light to Change (Prolific Press), and more will appear in his next book, Above the Fold, in 2025. Born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in the Underground Railroad town of Westerville, Ohio, Scott writes publicity for an affordable housing nonprofit and helps teach ESOL and citizenship classes in the immigrant communities of Boston. Find out more about Scott at https://www.scottruescher.com/.
Susan Truxell Sauter’s poems have appeared in many anthologies and in Apalachee Review. Part of her poem from the collection Fracture—Essays, Poems, & Stories on Fracking in America was published as a song. She has read her work in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, and The Allegheny Front twice featured her poetry and once her work as an organic farmer. Additionally, Susan’s poetry has been exhibited and she has read throughout West Virginia as part of the Listening for Racial Understanding project organized by Morgantown’s First Presbyterian Church. Susan is retired from a diverse journalism career, holds a B.A. in Communications from Ohio State University, and lives in West Virginia.
Dawn Shields is a freelance writer who believes the written word is a powerful tool in implementing social change. Her focus is educating the public about Black history in the United States and how it perpetuates injustice today. She passionately reveals the disguised suppression and control that is mass incarceration. At the same time, she celebrates the strength, intelligence, beauty, and contribution of this great people. Dawn is the mother of six and grandmother of nine. Her youngest two children were adopted from Haiti.
Resources for Learning About and Combatting Racism & Hate
This compilation of resources, listed in alphabetical order, is evolving. If you encounter any issues with the urls provided, please let us know by sending an email to poetsagainstracism.usa@gmail.com.
Anti-Defamation League’s “Join Us in Fighting Hate for Good”
Offers strategies for talking about bias and hate and addressing anti-Semitism and other forms of hate.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s “Anti-Asian Hate”
Assists Asian Americans and their allies in raising awareness about and taking a stand against racism and discrimination against Asian Americans.
Association on American Indian Affairs’ “Become an Ally”
Educates the public on facts and issues important to Native communities and ways to help ensure that Native lives, cultures, and values are protected and respected.
Informs members about meaningful actions they can take to fight for racial justice.
Equal Justice Initiative’s “Get Involved”
Provides resources for learning and sharing information on the history of racial injustice, locally memorializing documented victims of racial violence, and engaging with criminal justice reform.
His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice
Explores systemic racism’s multi-ranging effects on George Floyd’s life and the global impacts of his death. [award-winning biography of George Floyd by Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa]
Indivisible’s “Fighting Gerrymandering in the States”
Discusses the use of gerrymandering as a weapon for undermining the political power of minority communities and provides information about how to fight against gerrymandering.
Institute for Social Policy and Understanding’s “Countering and Dismantling Islamophobia”
Supplies resources and presents research-based best practices to empower communities and individuals to effectively counter and dismantle Islamophobia. [online and downloadable guide]
National Institutes of Health’s “Deconstructing Bias: Allyship”
Describes the work involved in being an ally, beginning with understanding one’s own identity and how that identity is affected by diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility issues.
National Institutes of Health’s “What Is Allyship?”
Provides information about what allyship is and who allies are. [from Communities, a blog published by the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion]
National Museum of African American History & Culture’s “Talking About Race”
Provides tools and guidance to empower and inspire conversations about race, customized for groups such as educators, parents/caregivers, and individuals committed to equity.
National Public Radio’s “Code Switch”
Features conversations about race hosted by journalists of color. [podcast]
October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation
Calls for those who have been affected by police brutality and their supporters to take to the streets each year on October 22 in opposition of excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement.
Rochester Racial Justice Toolkit
Offers articles, guides, news stories, videos, social media messages, and other tools from several online sources on racial justice and Black Lives Matter activism; intended for the Rochester, Minnesota, community but broadly applicable.
SCORE’s “9 Ways to Be an Ally for Black Professionals and Business Owners”
Offers practical strategies for uplifting and empowering Black professionals and business owners.
Organizes White people to join the fight for racial justice.
Small Business Trends’ “Ways to Support a Black Business Owner or Black Owned Business”
Addresses ways consumers can support and contribute to the growth of Black-owned businesses and includes links to organizations that support Black-owned small businesses.
Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Ten Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide”
Sets out 10 principles for fighting hate in one’s community. [online and downloadable guide]
United Nations’ “Engage—How to Deal with Hate Speech”
Offers tips for taking a stand against real-world and virtual-world hate speech.
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Law Library’s “Police Violence: Reading List”
Provides access to a wide variety of informational sources (e.g., books, online resources, academic papers, Supreme Court cases, data) on the topic of police-involved violence.
World Economic Forum’s “3 Ways to Protect LGBTI Rights Across the World”
Offers strategies for addressing the human rights situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people.
World Economic Forum’s “Why Being an LGBT+ Ally Can Transform Lives—Yours Included”
Describes ways to be a strong ally for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex community and the effects of doing so.