The Dithering of a District Diva

(Bakari with then-Senator Barack Obama, Chris Tucker, Kerry Washington, and Usher at the 2008 Democratic National Convention)

Ar·che·type –noun: “the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.” The Archetype Series — a companion series to “The Prototype” series — honors Black men who are doing amazing things in the world to remind us that: 1) they exist, *do not believe the hype*; and 2) we can all do amazing things, too. Break down their model, explore their mindset, adopt their habits, and use them to reach your own goals. Anyone can do it. Everyone won’t.

The November Archetype: South Carolina State Representative  Bakari Sellers. Elected at 22, the now 26-year-old practicing attorney is believed to be the youngest African-American lawmaker in the country.

On November 2, Democrats suffered a major blow, losing control of the U.S. House Representatives and several state governorships.  But while many liberal spirits were dampened by the midterm election results, South Carolina State Representative Bakari Sellers was surprisingly upbeat, optimistic, and encouraged, saying:

In South Carolina, there was absolutely no change. Things were Monday just as they were Tuesday night after the election, which is unfortunate. My fear is that the Republican Party in South Carolina has had control for the last 15 years, holding the state House, Senate, and governorship, and 8 out of 9 statewide elected offices. They don’t have the governance nor the necessary skills to move this state out of a ditch and move it forward. But even still, I’m excited. I’ll be the lone excited Democrat if necessary. I do see glimmers of hope and I understand history. President Clinton went through something very similar [in the 1994 midterm elections], and I do know that things can change.

[That] Tuesday, some good things occurred: African-American voter turnout was up and we [Democrats] came within 3.5% of taking the [South Carolina] governorship. It was an election that went into the night. That’s not usual [for South Carolina]. And I think that we have the talent in our midst — all be it young — to become a more progressive state.

But even as our young people work to make our states and our nation more progressive, Congress seems to be moving backward, now that there are  zero African Americans in the U.S. Senate.  Yet Bakari is less discouraged by the numbers of Blacks in Congress, and more concerned about what those in office are using their authority to achieve:

When I speak about the void of African-American leadership, I’m not talking about the numbers,I’m referring to some of the apathy we have amongst our elected officials. I’m concerned about the lack of ideas in African American leadership and I believe that results in the void that is readily apparent. I hope they take it as a challenge to continue to strive to be better and to create new policy initiatives that can move the country forward.

Black leadership is a myth, and I think it should be taught as such. When its not taught as such, we get caught up in the expectation that one man or one woman will save us all. That’s because a lot of people only learn about Martin, Rosa, Malcolm, and so they don’t understand that there wouldn’t have been a Rosa Parks if there wasn’t a Sarah Mae Fleming. So that’s what I mean; we have to have a true understanding of how far we’ve come, and an understanding that only by working in unison can we effect tangible positive change in our communities.

And in his community (South Carolina’s rural District 90) is where Bakari is content to stay.  Even after interning for Atlanta’s former mayor Shirley Franklin as a student at Morehouse College, he decided to leave Atlanta after graduation, return home to South Carolina and successfully seek the office of State Rep for District 90.  For him, to return home was a duty, and he measures his success by the success of his District.

It’s almost insulting for me to turn my back on the community that gave me so much. I wish so many more young people would return home, and not just for holidays or visits. If we would go back and fill the needs in our communities, we wouldn’t see that leadership vacuum that is present today. To me, success is a 5% unemployment rate in District 90 with a 98% graduation rate and a median income of $35,000. That’s success — when my community is intact. It’s about being a part of the fabric of the community and giving back to them an ounce of what it gave you. But, I don’t think I am atypical [in feeling this way].

Perhaps he isn’t  alone in returning home to fill a need in his community, but Bakari is certainly atypical. A high school freshman at 12, a college graduate at 20,  a state representative by 22, and an attorney by 23, the now 26-year-old stands at 6’5 and is believed to be the youngest African American legislator in the country. All the evidence suggests he was designed to stand out and groomed to lead. But for Bakari, leaders aren’t necessarily born, but created by every facet of society that takes an interest in them: 

It’s incumbent upon me and you, the church, local businesses — all of us — to raise individuals and instill in them a sense of community by showing them that the community cares for them.  You have to show them that they can find love outside of gangs and the streets. I think the Church has lets us down in this area.

If we are going to move forward, I think the church has a very strong role in showing people love. If you’re walking into church with sneakers on the Church has to embrace you. The Church should be providing more missionary work in the community with the sole purpose of meeting needs in the community and restoring faith in each of us, to let us know that things that were once impossible will be done. Through prayer all things are possible. And we all have a role in that. We can all mentor a kid, or find a kid who wants to do what we’re doing. If you know a kid who wants to be a lawyer, that means bringing him to your firm once a week and being that one piece that he may have been missing in his life, bringing him into your community. That’s how you change a person’s perception of community and teach them that mediocrity is not an option, because you set an example and make a choice not to be mediocre. It’s not rocket science. And it’s not more than any one person can bear.

It is not by happenstance that Bakari is so deeply invested in the idea of community.  As the son of civil rights legend Cleveland Sellers, Bakari has been so shaped by his father’s harrowing experience and unjust imprisonment following the Orangeburg Massacre in 1968, that he’s dedicated himself not only to public service, but to criminal defense and civil rights law as an attorney at Strom Law Firm in Columbia.  In an odd kind of redemption of history he calls “ironic,” Bakari now works in the law firm of Pete Strom, the son of Sheriff  J.P. Strom, who arrested Bakari’s father over 40 years ago.  Ironic, indeed, and yet equally symbolic, as Bakari has expressed a vision of districts, states, and a country that works together, building upon a true understanding of our history, to heal and move forward together by refocusing not on color, but on need:

It’s all about understanding our history and using it to build bridges. Its about empowering the least of us. The challenge of my generation is not Black and White, it’s the haves versus the have nots. If you’re Black and poor and White and poor, you have many of the same problems. So our focus has to be on narrowing the intellectual divide. Narrowing the achievement gap. We need new initiatives to prepare all Americans for the global world. And I’m not trying to create a utopia, I just have a clear vision of where I want this country to go and how we can get there. But it’s a simple dream of everyone having access to  quality health care and everyone having access to a decent education. We reinstate the respect we once had for the teaching profession and pay teachers what they deserve. We make college affordable so that any student with good grades and a dream can be properly equipped to achieve their goals. We make it so that the people have access to their basic, fundamental needs.

I think it can be done, but we cannot do it by ourselves and we cannot do it with only people who look like us.

For those who seek to escape the stronghold of mediocrity, Bakari lays out a roadmap:

Challenge yourself enough to have dreams. Then, find somebody that’s obtained those dreams and try to understand how they got there. And you just order your steps in that fashion. You don’t have to do it exactly the way they did it, but it sets a precedent for how hard you should be working, or how much schooling you need to perfect the necessary skill set.  And above all, try to be the very best at everything you do.

And when it’s all said and done, he hopes to leave behind a legacy of change for his home state:

I hope to be remembered as someone who charted new territory for South Carolina and at the end of the day I left this place better than it was when I came. But I’m really just focused on the present. Right now. I have too much work to do. I’m too young, and I don’t really feel I have achieved anything yet because I have too much work that I have to do here [in District 90].  I’m not so much worried about what’s going on in D.C., because my Congressman [James Clyburn] is damn good. But right now, I can be taking care of people. I can take care of the people who didn’t have much but gave me their all.

What We Can Learn From Bakari: Write the vision and make it plain. Break through the chains of mediocrity by choosing to be exceptional. When you get free, show others the way. And always start at home.

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