“How far have we come?” and “Where do we go from here?”
Keynote speaker Bakari Sellers tackled those two questions with attendees Wednesday as he wrapped up the Congressional Caucus. The author, CNN analyst, and youngest-ever elected official in South Carolina history said those questions were essential to progress.
“The unique part about the work you do is that you are so connected to the communities you live in and represent, the people that you serve, that asking these questions are almost necessary to complete your daily tasks,” he said.
Sellers answered the first question with stories of civil rights leaders in the 1940s and 50s in his home state, highlighting individuals who fought for desegregated schools and buses, and the right to vote.
These leaders include his father, who grew up in Denmark, S.C., roomed with civil rights leader Stokely Carmichael in college, and was wounded by police marching with students in what became known as the Orangeburg Massacre.
Sellers used his own experiences to demonstrate how far things moved forward in one generation, as he decided – while in law school in 2006 – to run for the South Carolina House of Representatives (“My mom said she’d vote for me, my dad said he’d think about it,” he said.”). The campaign pitted him against a longtime incumbent, but by knocking on 2,600 doors, visiting dozens of churches, and more outreach efforts, Sellers won with 55% of the vote.
He shared with attendees that his connection to the community led him to further success, and he encouraged them to continue finding new ways to help.
Sellers ended with his second question, and what attendees can do to find their own answers.
“The challenge for all of you is to rebuild community,” he said. “In order to answer the question of where we go from here, the question that keeps me up at night, you must dream with your eyes open—a phrase I love—to love your neighbors even when they don’t love you. It requires you to understand we’re all part of a participatory democracy together. Participatory being the word that truly matters.”
He encouraged the crowd to continue to be mindful to their communities, and to always strive for better.
“Our country will continue to fall apart unless rooms like this, and people like you, with the talent, diversity, power, platform, actually remember that dreams to matter, remember that community is probably the important thing we have outside of relationships. Then—and only then—will we get to our final destination,” he said. “The final goal should always be excellence, and when you get there your name might not be in lights, you might not be famous, but somebody, somewhere will give you a look and say, ‘job well done.’”
