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Conversations On Race and Racism: Cousins Mike Elmore & Blake Wilder

Cousins Mike Elmore, left, and Blake Wilder, right, grew up together in Iowa.  Today, Elmore works as a loan officer and Jiu Jitsu instructor in West Plains, Missouri, and Wilder is an author living in Las Vegas.
Used with permission
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KSMU
Cousins Mike Elmore, left, and Blake Wilder, right, grew up together in Iowa. Today, Elmore works as a loan officer and Jiu Jitsu instructor in West Plains, Missouri, and Wilder is an author living in Las Vegas.
Cousins Mike Elmore, left, and Blake Wilder, right, grew up together in Iowa.  Today, Elmore works as a loan officer and Jiu Jitsu instructor in West Plains, Missouri, and Wilder is an author living in Las Vegas.
Credit Used with permission / KSMU
/
KSMU
Cousins Mike Elmore, left, and Blake Wilder, right, grew up together in Iowa. Today, Elmore works as a loan officer and Jiu Jitsu instructor in West Plains, Missouri, and Wilder is an author living in Las Vegas.

This week, we bring you our Sense of Community series, Conversations on Race and Racism.  These conversations feature first-person perspectives, memories, and opinions of people in our community whose lives have been impacted by race and racism.   

In this segment, we listen in on a conversation between cousins Mike Elmore and Blake Wilder, who grew up together.  Elmore is an Army veteran, federal loan officer and Jiu-Jitsu teacher in West Plains, Missouri; Wilder is the author of "Random Bars: Poetry By An Original B-Boy" and lives in Las Vegas.

Hear Part 1 and Part 2 of their conversation by clicking below.

Listen to PART 1 of the conversation here.Listen to PART 2 of the conversation here.

Copyright 2021 KSMU. To see more, visit KSMU.

Conversations On Race and Racism: Cousins Mike Elmore & Blake Wilder

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As the Journalist-in-Residence at Missouri State University, Jennifer teaches undergraduate and graduate students, oversees a semester-long, team reporting project, and contributes weekly stories to KSMU Radio in the area of public affairs journalism.