Local, USA

Silence in Sikeston | Before Lynching Became a Crime

In 1942, Cleo Wright was lynched by a white mob before Sikeston, Missouri's Black community. Wright's death was the first federally investigated lynching but not before 3,842 had occurred around the country. Before the 2022 Emmett Till Antilynching Act, an anti-lynching campaign that began in the late 1800s, and led by Ida B. Wells, the NAACP and many activists, aimed to make the offense a crime.

Silence in Sikeston | Before Lynching Became a Crime

56s

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  • Silence in Sikeston: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Silence in Sikeston

    S8 E12 - 55m 19s

    The story of how the 1942 lynching of Cleo Wright - and the subsequent failure of the first federal attempt to prosecute a lynching - continues to haunt the small city of Sikeston, Missouri. Then, in 2020, the community is faced with the police killing of a young Black father. The film SILENCE IN SIKESTON explores the necessary questions about history, trauma, silence and resilience over 78 years.

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