Cleveland Sellers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cleveland Sellers
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| President of Voorhees College | |
| In office 2008–2015 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | November 8, 1944 Denmark, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Children | 3, including Bakari |
| Education | Shaw University (BA) Harvard University (EdM) University of North Carolina-Greensboro (EdD) |
Cleveland "Cleve" Sellers Jr. (born November 8, 1944) is an American educator and a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He worked hard to bring about fairness and equality for all people.
During the Civil Rights Movement, Sellers helped lead the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This group was made up of students who wanted to make a difference. He was the only person found guilty and sent to jail after the Orangeburg Massacre. This was a protest in 1968 where three students lost their lives. Many believed his conviction was unfair because of racism. He later received a full pardon 25 years after the event.
Sellers was the Director of the African American Studies Program at the University of South Carolina. He also served as president of Voorhees College. This is a special type of college called a historically black college in South Carolina. He was president from 2008 to 2015.
Contents
Early Life and Inspiration
Cleveland Sellers Jr. was born in Denmark, South Carolina. His parents were Cleveland Sellers Sr. and Pauline Sellers. Denmark was a town where most people were Black. As a child, Sellers didn't often see the unfair advantages white people had. He felt he could achieve anything he wanted.
He started attending the Voorhees School when he was only three years old. He even served as the school's mascot! Cleveland had a great relationship with his parents. He especially looked up to his mother, who cared deeply for their community. He attended Voorhees from ninth to twelfth grade, graduating in 1962.
As a boy, Sellers joined the Boy Scouts of America. He went to the National Scout Jamboree in Colorado in 1960. He completed all the steps to become an Eagle Scout. However, his paperwork was lost. He finally received this honor on December 3, 2007, when he was 64 years old. This was more than 40 years after he earned it!
His family was very religious and went to St. Philip's Episcopal Church. Cleveland loved the sermons and the feeling of community there. A sad event deeply affected him when he was ten years old. This was the tragic death of Emmett Till. Sellers said he couldn't see any difference between himself and Emmett.
This event, along with a church retreat discussing unfair racial treatment, inspired Sellers. He became very active in the Civil Rights Movement. The Greensboro sit-ins also encouraged him. He quickly became dedicated to student-led protests. In 1960, at just 15 years old, he organized a sit-in protest. This protest took place at a lunch counter in Denmark, South Carolina. It was his first time actively joining the Civil Rights Movement.
Joining the Civil Rights Movement
In 1962, Sellers enrolled in Howard University. His father had told him not to become an activist because it was dangerous. But Sellers still joined the Nonviolent Action Group (NAG). There, he met Stokely Carmichael. Carmichael was a big inspiration to Sellers. He was a key leader of the movement on campus.
Carmichael's house became the NAG headquarters. Even Malcolm X visited there often. He talked to students about the idea of black nationalism. This idea sometimes disagreed with Martin Luther King Jr.'s focus on peaceful and inclusive actions.
Before the March on Washington, NAG was asked to help. Sellers and others provided signs and food for the marchers. As Sellers walked through the huge crowd, Malcolm X's powerful message stayed with him.
In 1964, Sellers became deeply involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This group was started by students in 1960. Sellers was very committed. He took an "oath of poverty" when he joined. This meant he put aside his education, family, and fun student life. He wanted to focus completely on the movement.
He was sent to Holly Springs, Mississippi, right away. His job was to help people register to vote. He also supported the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. He and his friends faced a lot of unfair treatment in Mississippi. When they returned home, they felt tired and like they hadn't achieved much.
The next year, Sellers was chosen as the program director of SNCC. He quickly worked to change the group's goals.
New Goals for SNCC
Sellers felt that SNCC's old ways of thinking weren't working well. He wanted the group to have clear, achievable goals. Some members didn't like these strict new rules. But Sellers believed it was the best way to make real change.
Some SNCC members, especially Carmichael, started talking about "black empowerment." This idea was called Black Power. Sellers explained that black power was not meant to put down white people. Instead, it was about making the Black community feel strong and proud.
However, many white Americans misunderstood black power. They saw it as a movement that wanted Black people to be superior. By 1967, the idea had a mostly negative reputation. Even though SNCC faced many critics and eventually broke apart, the idea of black power was a "wake-up call" for America. It allowed some Black people to express their feelings of injustice.
Sellers was also one of the first SNCC members to refuse to join the U.S. military. This was a protest against the Vietnam War. SNCC leaders thought the government was trying to silence them by drafting their leaders. Sellers earned his bachelor's degree from Shaw University in 1967. After graduating, he returned to South Carolina, feeling exhausted from his work with SNCC.
The Orangeburg Massacre
Sellers was back in South Carolina, hoping to finish his degree. On February 8, 1968, about 200 protesters gathered. They were on the campus of South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. They were protesting against a bowling alley that only allowed white people. This bowling alley was called All Star Bowling Lane.
Sellers was at a friend's house when he heard about the commotion. He went outside and walked through the crowd of student protesters. Police officers nearby thought the crowd was attacking them. They fired into the crowd. Three young men were killed: Samuel Hammond, Delano Middleton, and Henry Smith. Twenty-seven others were hurt. Sellers himself was shot in the left shoulder and fell down.
The governor at the time, Robert Evander McNair, blamed "outside Black Power agitators." But later investigations showed this was not true.
A trial followed, which was the first federal trial of police officers for using too much force at a campus protest. All nine officers were found not guilty. Authorities tried to build a case against Sellers. They claimed he was the one who started the trouble. While waiting for his trial, Sellers was released on bond. He went to Atlanta because he feared for his safety at home.
In the fall of 1970, Sellers was found guilty of not leaving when told to. He was sentenced to a year in prison. Sellers was the only person sent to prison because of this event. He served seven months for "inciting to riot." Many believe Sellers was unfairly targeted. He was known as a strong civil rights supporter and a former SNCC leader. Some even think he was the target of an assassination plan during the event, but there is no proof of this.
While in prison, he wrote his autobiography, The River of No Return. This book tells the story of his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Sellers received a full pardon 25 years after his conviction. But he chose to keep his record as it was. He called it a "badge of honor." Sellers said getting the pardon "closed a chapter" in his life.
Later Life and Education
After being released from prison, Cleveland Sellers continued his education. He earned a Master's degree in education from Harvard University in 1970. He later ran for office in Greensboro, North Carolina, but was not elected. He also helped with Reverend Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign in 1984. Sellers earned his EdD degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1987.
He became the director of the African American Studies Program at the University of South Carolina. His work focused on recording the history of protests and civil rights. He also studied the experiences of Africans who were spread around the world. He focused on the spoken stories of African Americans who shaped South Carolina's history. This included cultural groups and languages like Gullah, Creole, and Geechee. He also studied how African Americans survived tough times, often through stories and traditions.
In 1989, Sellers and his family moved back to Denmark, South Carolina. They wanted to be closer to his aging parents. In 2008, Sellers was chosen as the 8th president of Voorhees College. This was the same college where he had graduated from high school. In September 2015, Sellers had to step down as president due to a heart condition. During his time as president, he helped more students enroll at the college.
Sellers has two sons and one daughter. His younger son is Bakari T. Sellers, who was a state representative in South Carolina. Bakari was one of the youngest state lawmakers in the United States when he was first elected in November 2006, at age 22.
See also
