Faces of Southeast Missouri: Lloyd Williams

Lloyd Williams grew up on the southside of Cape Girardeau in the Smelterville neighborhood. He is the founder and editor of the monthly publication SEMO Urban Voices.

Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer

Lloyd Williams has always been curious. Growing up in South Cape, the second oldest child of seven, he liked to test the waters and try new things.

After graduating from Notre Dame Regional High School, he moved to Milwaukee, graduating with a BFA in art from the university of Wisconsin-Superior.

During his studies, he worked at the Milwaukee Museum of Natural History and the Milwaukee Art Center, where he still has an exhibit on display. Williams then came back to Cape Girardeau, where he connected with the Conservation Department. Later, he joined the National Guard, transferred to Kansas City, Kansas, and pursued his interests in the medical field. Working at the University of Kansas Medical Center as a surgery technician, he connected with a doctor looking for a first assistant, which eventually landed him back to Cape Girardeau.

“My life has been an adventure,” Williams says. “Things have just happened.”

Back in Cape Girardeau, Williams worked for Cape Neurosurgical Associates, but began pursuing his interests in politics and history, as well. In 2009, he started a publication called The Crossroads, a newspaper directed to the African American community, in hopes of reflecting their opinions and voices. A longtime member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), he helped revive the local chapter, started a scholarship program and helped bring back the Freedom Fund Banquet, an annual NAACP fundraiser focused on community activism. He served as president of the Cape Girardeau unit from 2015 to 2017. Through both of these endeavors, Williams has hoped the sharing of common interests, problems and concerns will lead to solutions within the community.

“Knowledge is power,” Williams says. “[The Black community] seem to be left out of the loop of what’s going on. We have lacked the information needed to improve our situation. I’m trying to get people interested and take pride in the city they live in, enjoy what we have here.”

For a time, Williams had to step away from Cape Girardeau and the community newspaper, but in 2022, he picked it back up, giving it the new name SEMO Urban Voices. The content has become a source for unity and understanding within the Black community throughout Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

At SEMO Urban Voices, Williams leans into his creative side as the editor, publisher and jack of all trades. The 12-page publication publishes once a month and runs completely off of advertisements and sponsorships. Eventually, he hopes to reach a younger audience by taking some of it online.

While crime and violence in Cape is addressed in the newspaper, Williams also provides information about the City Council as it affects the Black community, as well as scholarship information for students. He highlights people from the community in positions of influence, whose example can inspire and motivate the next generation. And he hopes people who aren’t Black will take time to read it, too.

“There are good things going on,” says Williams, whose curiosity and compassion for the community keeps him asking the tough questions and looking for solutions. “Maybe that would help us both understand each other better.”