Name: Bakari Sellers
Occupation: Attorney
Location: Columbia, South Carolina
How We Know Him: The Democratic political pundit became a small screen fave thanks to his advocacy laced frank commentary on popular shows during the 2016 presidential election.
Why We Chose Him: The South Carolina native has had a long history of activism. He even won a seat in the House of Representatives directly after college.
What’s Next: A lawyer by trade, Sellers continues to maintain an active voice in civil rights advocacy.
IG: @bakarisellers
If the truth shall set you free, then Bakari Sellers isn’t bound by much of anything. The history-making former state representative from South Carolina has become one of the most sought after political pundits on cable TV as well as on the lecture circuit, waxing poetic on everything from the law to current events to HBCUs to, of course, politics. But he’s also carved out an impressive role for himself as an equally effective social media influencer, repeatedly posting his opinion about topics that many times provide a voice for the voiceless.
Though Sellers was the youngest ever Black politician in America when he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives at the age 22 in 2006, it was a whole decade later when he became a household name during the last presidential election cycle for his straight-no-chaser political analysis on cable TV, and eventually on social media.
That has continued and then some for the 33-year-old Morehouse Man, who was selected to be a part of the 2019 Creative Class for the way he’s created his own lane in broadcast media. With the Black vote being a constantly coveted demographic, Sellers can speak directly to Black voters in a way that many people in front of the cameras cannot. Ahead of the 2020 election cycle, it was of paramount importance for Black folks to turn out at the polls in ways they did not the last time around.
And that’s where Sellers, especially as a native of South Carolina, where candidates have been chasing the Black vote, comes into play. NewsOne salutes the doors he has opened for himself and others who look like him.
