UNION — A Black History Month program to be held at USC Union will feature Rep. Bakari Sellers as its guest speaker.
USC Union’s African American Association/Men & Women on a Mission (AAA/MWOM) will host a Black History Month program at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 27, in the university’s auditorium. The event is free and to the public.
The guest speaker for the event is Bakari Sellers — member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing the 90th District. Sellers graduated from Morehouse College in 2005 and received a law degree at the University of South Carolina in 2008. When he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2006, he became the youngest member of the South Carolina General Assembly at age 22. Sellers is currently the second youngest member of the General Assembly, following the election of Fairfield County’s Boyd Brown in 2008.
Sellers is the Southeastern Regional Director of the NAACP and was an active member of the Obama for America South Carolina Steering Committee from 2007-2008. Sellers was also highlighted in Time Magazine as one of the 40 leaders under 40 who are “rising stars of American politics.”
Sellers has been quoted saying he believes the most overlooked issue facing America today and the issue of his generation is no longer that of race, but the “haves” versus the “have-nots.” Sellers has said that until the growing divide is addressed — by narrowing the socio-economic divide, narrowing the technological gap, or just making sure that everyone is healthy — the country will continue to see a lack of progress.
Sellers said his biggest inspiration — and hero — is his father, civil rights activist Cleveland Sellers, Jr.
In 1968, Cleveland Sellers was the only person convicted and jailed for events at the Orangeburg Massacre — a civil rights protest in which three students were killed by state troopers. He received a full pardon 25 years after the incident. Cleveland Sellers went on to receive a master’s degree from Harvard University in 1970 and an Ed.D. in history from the University of South Carolina in 1987. He has served as Director of the African American Studies program at the University of South Carolina and is currently President of Voorhees College.
For more information, about the group or the programs, please contact Professor Tara Fatemi at (864) 429-8728 (USCU), ext 7771.
Staff Writer Derik Vanderford can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 29, or by email at dvanderford@civitasmedia.com.
Post a Comment
