American victims are usually not American protagonists. Toluse Olorunnipa wanted to change that.

In a panel Tuesday night called “Let’s Talk About George Floyd,” Olorunnipa discussed his prize-winning book, “His Name Is George Floyd,” with USC professors Brittany Friedman and Jody Armour. Kymia Freeman, a junior majoring in public relations at USC, moderated the panel, which drew more than 100 audience members. Olorunnipa was heartened by the panel’s reception and attendees’ willingness to listen.

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“It was really informative for me, I learned a lot,” Olorunnipa said. “I don’t always expect, as a panelist, to learn, thinking the people in the crowd are the ones learning, but I learned from the audience, I learned from the other panelists. It was really, really a powerful experience for me.”

Much of the night was spent analyzing and discussing the effects systemic racism had on Floyd’s life. As the panelists talked, the audience learned how racism colored Floyd’s life, everything from repeated arrests, healthcare inaccessibility and the over-policing of Floyd’s neighborhood. Institutions such as universities were also scrutinized; Freeman discussed USC’s role as a historically and predominantly white institution in an interview before the panel.

“It’s important that we have the nerve to have these conversations,” Freeman said, “that we’re not just brushing all of the injustice that [the] University has committed to its students of color under the rug and that we are being honest about our place in this long, treacherous history of systemic racism.”

Extra care was taken all through the night to humanize a man who had become a symbol. Stories of Floyd’s big-heartedness, his flaws and his dreams abounded. In one excerpt from the book, Floyd writes in a second grade essay, “When I grow up I want to be a Supreme Court Judge. When people say ‘Your honor, he did rob the bank,’ I will say ‘Be seated.’ And if he doesn’t, I will tell the guard to take him out. Then I will beat my hammer on the desk. Then everybody will be quiet.”

“How do you create a more just world? What does that look like?” Olorunnipa said. “One of the things that I thought was important was that we all play a role in that … If we all play a little bit of a role in doing that, we can make a big change. That was the spirit of the evening.”

With the discussion, which was informed by a book based on hours upon hours of research and more than 400 interviews, the panelists were able to provide a nuanced picture of Floyd’s life.

“I felt an obligation to speak about those issues in a real way, speak about George Floyd’s life in a real way. My co-author —, Robert Samuels — and I tried to do that with the book,” Olorunnipa said. “But we also want it to reflect the other side of the story, the Black joy that was involved in George Floyd’s life, the fact that he was a loving person, the fact that he was someone who would go about trying to spread love.”

Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile and Trayvon Martin: These names and more would emerge throughout the night as panelists grappled with the questions before them.

“We didn’t want his life to be another hashtag,” Olorunnipa said.

As questions around education, institutions and the role of art in activism proliferated, panelists shared personal stories. Armour, a professor of law, empathized with Floyd’s claustrophobia and fear before entering a cop car because he himself had the same experience. Olorunnipa mentioned going to dinners and football games with Floyd’s loved ones, trying to get a sense of where Floyd had lived and grown up.

“I thought the conversation was thought provoking. I thought it was incredibly moving. And it was honest. And it was raw,” said Friedman, a professor of sociology.

The panelists’ candor was well received by the crowd.

“I wanted to come here to let them know how much I appreciated what they’re doing,” said Bill Allens, a performing artist who attended the panel.

In an interview after the panel, Olorunnipa said he hopes the book gives future readers a sense of Floyd, an unknown man whose death would spark “the biggest civil rights movement since the 1960s.”

“I want people reading in the future to feel like they have an opportunity to get to know George Floyd, to get to know the movement that was sparked by his death,” Olorunnipa said. “And so he is a public figure. He’s someone who had a major impact on American history.”