Bakari Sellers

Bakari T. Sellers (born September 18, 1984) is an American politician and attorney. He represented South Carolina's 90th district in the lower house of the state legislature from 2006 to 2014. He vacated his seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives to run for Lieutenant Governor that year, but lost. He was succeeded in office by Justin T. Bamberg.
Sellers is also the first vice chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party.

Early life and education

Sellers was born on September 18, 1984 and is the son of Gwendolyn Sellers and civil rights activist and professor Cleveland Sellers. He grew up in Bamberg County, South Carolina and was educated at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School, a public high school in Orangeburg, South Carolina. In 2005, Sellers earned a bachelor's degree in African-American Studies from Morehouse College, a private all-male and historically black, liberal arts college, in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2008, he earned a juris doctorate from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Sellers has worked for Congressman James Clyburn and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

Career

Legal career

Sellers has been an attorney with the Strom Law Firm, L.L.C. in Columbia, South Carolina since 2007, and he is an analyst on CNN.

Israel advocacy

Sellers first attended the annual AIPAC conference while serving as student body president at Morehouse College. He has since become a prominent African-American advocate for Israel. In 2016, he authored a letter signed by 60 fellow African-American politicians urging the Democratic Platform Committee to keep the same language regarding Israel that appeared in previous Democratic platforms, for which he received criticism from pro-Palestinian activists.

Honors and awards

In 2010, Time magazine featured Sellers on its 40 Under 40 list. In 2012, Politico named Sellers on its "50 politicos to watch" list.

Sellers was named HBCU Top 30 Under 30 in July 2014.

Personal life

In the summer of 2015, he married Ellen Rucker Carter, the ex-wife of professional basketball player Vince Carter.