Bakari Sellers

Sellers was born on September 18, 1984, and is the son of Gwendolyn Sellers and civil rights activist and professor Cleveland Sellers.{{cite web|url=http://thetandd.com/news/standing-on-the-promises-mother-of-rep-sellers-continues-fight/article_1f0474c2-51aa-11e4-a48b-5be76717cf66.html|title=Standing on the promises: Mother of Rep. Sellers continues fight against leukemia and for Bamberg County hospital|author= Kimberlei N. Davis|website=thetandd.com|date=October 12, 2014 |publisher=The Times and Democrat|access-date=July 10, 2016}} {{subscription required}} He grew up in Bamberg County, South Carolina,{{cite web|url=http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140903/PC1603/140909848/1031/bakari-sellers-endorsed-by-sc-education-group|title=Bakari Sellers endorsed by S.C. education group|author=Schuyler Kropf|date=September 3, 2014|publisher=The Post and Courier|website=postandcourier.com|access-date=July 10, 2016}} and was educated at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School, a public high school in Orangeburg, South Carolina.{{cite web|url=http://www.claflin.edu/claflin-news/2014/03/21/lt.-governor-candidate-bakari-sellers-tells-claflin-students-he-is-ready-for-next-step-as-change-agent |title=Lt. governor candidate Bakari Sellers tells Claflin students he is ready for next step as change agent |work=Claflin University |author=Arielle Hayes |date=March 21, 2014 |access-date=March 3, 2016 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 2005, Sellers earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in African-American Studies from Morehouse College, a private all-male and historically black, liberal arts college, in Atlanta, Georgia.{{cite news|last1=Hampton|first1=Vickie|title=BAKARI SELLERS '05: 'THERE IS STILL A CROWN ABOVE ME'|url=http://www.morehouse.edu/newscenter/bakari-sellers-05-there-is-still-a-crown-above-me/|access-date=July 26, 2016|publisher=Morehouse College|date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816165349/http://www.morehouse.edu/newscenter/bakari-sellers-05-there-is-still-a-crown-above-me/|archive-date=August 16, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} In 2008, he earned a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Sellers has worked for Congressman James Clyburn and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

Sellers has been an attorney with the Strom Law Firm, L.L.C. in Columbia, South Carolina since 2007,{{cite web| url=https://stromlaw.com/about/attorneys/bakari-sellers/|title=Bakari Sellers - Attorney at Strom Law Firm, L.L.C. |website= stromlaw.com|access-date=July 10, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.postandcourier.com/20160507/160509523/state-lawmaker-lived-at-contributors-half-million-dollar-property-ducks-questions|title=State lawmaker lived at contributor's half-million-dollar property, ducks questions|date=May 7, 2016|work= The Post and Courier|access-date=July 10, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article61075072.html|title=Former SC representative finds niche as CNN commentator|website=thestate.com|access-date=July 10, 2016}} He is also currently on the board of directors of Level Brands (a brand management firm){{cite web|title=About Level Brands|url=https://levelbrands.com/about/|access-date=25 January 2018|website=levelbrands.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125193652/https://levelbrands.com/about/|archive-date=January 25, 2018|url-status=dead}} and Let America Vote (a voting rights organization founded by former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander).{{cite web|url=https://www.letamericavote.org/boardofadvisors/|title=Advisors|publisher=Let America Vote|access-date=May 1, 2018}}

Sellers represented South Carolina's 90th district in the lower house of the state legislature from 2006 to 2014, becoming the youngest African American person elected official in the country at age 22.{{Citation needed|reason=Need to verify claim he was the hou g African-American elected official; as well as to clarify whether that means just at that specific time, up to that point in history, or to this day|date=May 2022}} He vacated his seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives to run for Lieutenant Governor in 2014, but lost to Henry McMaster.{{cite news|last1=Davis|first1=Kimberlei N.|title=Ex-Rep. Sellers pops up on girlfriend's reality show|url=http://thetandd.com/news/local/ex-rep-sellers-pops-up-on-girlfriend-s-reality-show/article_66274d16-a1f5-11e4-809f-3b08d083048b.html|access-date=July 13, 2015|work=The Times and Democrat|date=January 22, 2015}} He was succeeded in the House by Justin T. Bamberg.

Sellers is a prominent African-American supporter of Israel. He first attended the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference while serving as a student body president at Morehouse College.{{cite web| url=http://www.jta.org/2009/01/16/news-opinion/politics/how-aipac-makes-friends | title=How AIPAC Makes Friends | date=January 16, 2009 | access-date=July 23, 2016 | last= Fingerhut| first= Eric| author-link= Eric Fingerhut | publisher= Jewish Telegraphic Agency}} In 2016, he authored a letter signed by 60 fellow African-American politicians urging the Democratic Platform Committee to keep the same language, refusing to include the statement that Israel is engaging in an "occupation" of Palestine that appeared in previous Democratic platforms.{{cite news | url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/24/politics/hillary-clinton-israel-dnc-platform/ | title=Hillary Clinton's views on Israel win out in DNC platform, for now | work=CNN | date=June 26, 2016 | access-date=July 23, 2016 | last1= Kopan| first1= Tal |last2= Labott| first2= Elise}}

{{Main|2019 Lincoln Memorial confrontation}}

In response to an incident between a teenager, Nicholas Sandmann, and Native American activist Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial, Sellers tweeted about the teen: "He is a deplorable. Some ppl can also be punched in the face."{{Cite web|date=2020-02-19|title=Covington Catholic students and parents sue Washington Post for 'reckless' coverage of 2019 incident|url=https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/covington-catholic-students-and-parents-sue-washington-post-for-reckless-coverage-of-2019-incident|access-date=2020-06-26|website=WCPO|language=en}} Sellers deleted the tweet, claiming his comment was "metaphoric" and "taken out of context" though he still claimed that the students "displayed xenophobic, racist behavior."{{Cite web|last=Writer|first=DIONNE GLEATON T&D Staff|title=Bakari Sellers says tweet not promoting violence, students symbolize bigotry, division|url=https://thetandd.com/news/local/bakari-sellers-says-tweet-not-promoting-violence-students-symbolize-bigotry-division/article_6b5cf25d-bb55-5ed1-abd0-7cf5487eede3.html|access-date=2020-06-18|website=The Times and Democrat|date=January 22, 2019 |language=en}} Sellers was later included in a lawsuit brought by the teen's parents against CNN, where Sellers worked as an analyst.{{Cite web|date=2020-01-07|title=Report: CNN Settles with Cov Cath Student Nicholas Sandmann|url=https://www.rcnky.com/articles/2020/01/07/report-cnn-settles-cov-cath-student-nicholas-sandmann|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629003831/https://www.rcnky.com/articles/2020/01/07/report-cnn-settles-cov-cath-student-nicholas-sandmann|url-status=usurped|archive-date=June 29, 2020|access-date=2020-06-26|website=The River City News|language=en}} CNN settled the lawsuit, rather than face a court trial.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/07/media/cnn-settles-lawsuit-viral-video/index.html|title = CNN settles lawsuit with Nick Sandmann stemming from viral video controversy| website=CNN | date=January 7, 2020 }}

In 2010, Time magazine featured Sellers on its 40 Under 40 list.{{cite magazine| url= https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2023831_2023829_2025202,00.html|title=40 Under 40|date=October 14, 2010|access-date=July 10, 2016| magazine= Time.com}}{{cite web |url= http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140517/PC1603/140519389| title= Young Democrat Bakari Sellers seeks to make history as lieutenant governor|date=May 17, 2014|work= The Post and Courier|access-date=July 10, 2016}} In 2012, Politico named Sellers on its "50 politicos to watch" list.{{cite web|url=http://thetandd.com/news/politico-lists-bakari-sellers-among-to-watch/article_dc5170fa-cd6f-11e1-aed4-0019bb2963f4.html|title=Politico lists Bakari Sellers among 50 to watch| first= Phil |last= Sarata| work= The Times and Democrat |date=July 14, 2012 |access-date=July 10, 2016}} {{subscription required}}{{Cite web |date=July 12, 2012 |title=50 politicos to watch: State pols on the verge of national prominence |url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78302_Page5.html |access-date=July 10, 2016 |website=Politico}}{{cite web| url= http://abcnews4.com/archive/sellers-named-to-politicos-50-politicos-to-watch-list|title=Sellers named to Politico's '50 politicos to watch' list|publisher=WCIV; Sinclair Broadcast Group|website=abcnews4.com|date=July 13, 2012| access-date= July 10, 2016}}

Sellers was named HBCU Top 30 Under 30 in July 2014.{{cite web|first1= Robert K. |last1= Hoggard|title=HBCU Top 30 Under 30|url=http://hbcubuzz.com/2014-hbcu-top-30-under-30-3/|website= HBCUBuzz.com |date= June 2014|access-date=December 8, 2014 |location= Washington DC|page =3}}

In May 2020, Sellers released an autobiography, My Vanishing Country, that centers on the forgotten lives of African-American working-class people in the rural U.S. South.{{cite web| url=https://www.facingsouth.org/2020/05/bakari-sellers-life-shaped-rural-souths-civil-rights-movement |title=Bakari Sellers on a life shaped by the rural South's civil rights movement |website=Facing South |first=Olivia | last=Paschal |date=May 13, 2020 |access-date=May 14, 2020}}

On April 23, 2024, his book, The Moment: Thoughts on the Race Reckoning That Wasn't and How We All Can Move Forward Now was released.

In the summer of 2015, he married Ellen Rucker Carter, chiropractor and co-owner of Rucker Roots haircare products.{{cite web|last1=Hawkins|first1=Kayla|title=Who Is Ellen Rucker's Boyfriend? Bakari Sellers The 'Love Thy Sister' Star Is Well Known Lawyer Down South|url=http://www.bustle.com/articles/57219-who-is-ellen-ruckers-boyfriend-bakari-sellers-the-love-thy-sister-star-is-well-known-lawyer|website=bustle.com|publisher=Bustle|access-date=July 10, 2016|date=January 8, 2015}} He has twins, a boy and a girl, born in 2018.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080330234442/http://www.scstatehouse.net/members/bios/1648863439.html South Carolina Legislature - Representative Bakari T. Sellers], official SC House website
• [http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=56925 Project Vote Smart - Representative Bakari Sellers (SC)] profile
• Follow the Money - Bakari Sellers
• [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=87192 2006] campaign contributions
• {{C-SPAN}}

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Category:1984 births

Category:African-American state legislators in South Carolina

Category:CNN people

Category:Living people

Category:Democratic Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives

Category:Morehouse College alumni

Category:People from Denmark, South Carolina

Category:South Carolina lawyers

Category:University of South Carolina School of Law alumni

Category:Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School alumni

Category:21st-century African-American lawyers

Category:20th-century African-American lawyers

Category:21st-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly

Category:21st-century African-American politicians