Bakari Sellers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bakari Sellers
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Sellers at Politicon 2018
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| Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 90th district |
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| In office December 5, 2006 – December 2, 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas Rhoad Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Justin Bamberg |
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| Born | September 18, 1984 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Parent | Cleveland Sellers (father) Gwen Williamson Sellers (mother) |
| Education | Morehouse College (BA) University of South Carolina (JD) |
Bakari T. Sellers (born September 18, 1984) is an American attorney, a person who gives legal advice and represents people in court. He is also a political commentator, which means he shares his opinions about politics on TV and online. He used to be a politician, someone who works in government.
Sellers was a representative in the South Carolina House of Representatives for the 90th District from 2006 to 2014. This is a group of people who make laws for the state of South Carolina. In 2014, he ran for Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, but he didn't win. Since 2015, Bakari Sellers has been a political commentator on CNN, a news channel.
Contents
Early Life and School
Bakari Sellers was born on September 18, 1984. His parents are Gwendolyn Sellers and Cleveland Sellers, who was a famous civil rights activist and professor. Bakari grew up in Bamberg County, South Carolina.
He went to Orangeburg-Wilkinson Senior High School in Orangeburg, South Carolina. In 2005, he earned a degree in African-American Studies from Morehouse College. This is a private college for men in Atlanta, Georgia, that has a rich history for Black students. Later, in 2008, he earned a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Before becoming a lawyer, Sellers worked for Congressman James Clyburn and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.
His Career
Being a Lawyer
Since 2007, Bakari Sellers has worked as a lawyer at the Strom Law Firm, L.L.C. in Columbia, South Carolina. He also helps lead two important groups. One is Level Brands, which helps manage different product brands. The other is Let America Vote, an organization that works to make sure everyone has the right to vote easily.
Working in Politics
From 2006 to 2014, Bakari Sellers represented South Carolina's 90th district in the state's law-making group. When he was elected at age 22, he became the youngest African American person to hold an elected office in the entire country!
In 2014, he decided to leave his seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives to run for Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. The Lieutenant Governor is the second-highest leader in the state government. He lost that election to Henry McMaster. After he left, Justin T. Bamberg took his place in the House.
Supporting Israel
Bakari Sellers is a well-known African-American supporter of Israel. He first went to a big meeting called the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference when he was a student leader at Morehouse College. In 2016, he wrote a letter with 60 other African-American politicians. The letter asked the Democratic National Committee to keep the same words in their political plan about Israel.
Awards and Books
Bakari Sellers has received several honors for his work. In 2010, Time magazine included him on its list of "40 Under 40," which highlights 40 important people under 40 years old. In 2012, Politico, a political news organization, named him one of the "50 politicos to watch." In July 2014, he was also named one of the "HBCU Top 30 Under 30." HBCU stands for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
In May 2020, Bakari Sellers released his first book, called My Vanishing Country. This book tells the stories of African-American working-class people who live in the rural Southern United States. On April 23, 2024, his second book, The Moment: Thoughts on the Race Reckoning That Wasn't and How We All Can Move Forward Now, was released.
Family Life
In the summer of 2015, Bakari Sellers married Ellen Rucker Carter. She is a chiropractor and also helps own a haircare company called Rucker Roots. They have twins, a boy and a girl, who were born in 2018.
