After using dialogue to address poverty and build prosperity, residents of the rural town of Wagner, S.D., realized that there was something holding them back from making real progress: they needed to address the long history of racial inequity and tensions between the white people living in the town and the American Indians living nearby.

When you're naming your community change effort, you may have some difficult decisions to make, especially if you're addressing racism. Should you include the word "racism" in the name? Will it turn too many people away?

"Year of Unity" in South Dakota. The governor and cabinet members became involved with Wagner's event celebrating the state's Native American Day. Wagner residents planned the "Day of Unity" event as an outgrowth of its "Horizons" program. Wagner is one of 40 towns in the state participating in the community development program sponsored by the Cooperative Extension Service and South Dakota State University.

Uploaded by Wagner Horizons Artplace America on 2017-02-20.