Volunteering used to be a mainstay of U.S. culture. But in recent years, giving back to their community hasn’t played as big a role in many Americans’ lives. New research suggests the economy may be to blame. Read Full Article (External Site) Dr. David LowemannDr. David Lowemann, M.Sc, Ph.D., is a co-founder of the Institute […]

SIKESTON, Mo. — For residents of Sikeston, as for Black Americans around the country, speaking openly about experiences with racial violence can be taboo and, in some cases, forbidden. As a child, Larry McClellon’s mother told him not to ask too many questions about the 1942 lynching of Cleo Wright in their hometown of Sikeston. […]

In 1942, a young Black man named Cleo Wright was removed from a Sikeston, Missouri, jail and lynched by a white mob. Nearly 80 years later, another young Black man, Denzel Taylor, was shot at least 18 times by police in the same small community.  In the hourlong “Silence in Sikeston” documentary film broadcast on […]