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A review by alundeberg
My Vanishing Country: A Memoir by Bakari Sellers
4.0
Bakari Seller's memoir "My Vanishing Country" is a very interesting account of his family's past, his role in politics as the youngest statesman in South Carolina, his work on CNN, and the myriad ways racism impacts America. As the son of Cleveland Sellers, a Civil Rights leader who marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and who was falsely accused and imprisoned for instigating the little known Orangeburg Massacre, Sellers reflects on what it means to be a leader, how to make change, and the continuation of generational trauma when the urgent, life-saving changes are passed by. His focus is on Bamberg County where he grew up in SC, and he shows how greed, negligence, and racism leads to areas with no local hospitals, no growing industry, no clean drinking water, and no prospects for the area's youth; this impacts the quality of life for all who live there-- black or white.
The first two-thirds of Sellers' memoir is about his childhood, education, and run for office. He speaks about how important it is for young, Black men to have role models and men of excellence to look up to, and how they need to be challenged in school and given the opportunities for higher education. He stresses how much forgotten communities leave people behind-- they don't know better prospects because they do not see better prospects. He also shows the intricacies running for politics and all of the on the ground, face to face work that goes into persuading voters. For any young person who is thinking about leadership in any form, they should read this book to learn how it is done. Sellers is not just a dreamer, but a doer. He details the immense amount of pressure there is to be both a Black man and a public figure, because what he does is not just about him, but his entire community. It's not until the last third of the book when he recounts the shooting at Mother Emanuel Church that left nine African-Americans dead, his wife's near-death experience, and the true extent of America's racism as revealed by Trump's election that the full force of his urgency is felt. In order for change to happen, it needs to happen on the streets and in the governing offices. People need to be activists, not just on the outside of the system, but inside, too. Too many in power today are more concerned about their political agendas than they are about providing services and building the communities they serve. This maintains the status quo and diminishes and destroys their constituents' lives.
What I really appreciate about his book is not only the telling of his father's work and sacrifices, but how he connects the often abstract issues of health care, education, industry to real, tangible issues on the ground. His work is a call to arms to be the voice for the voiceless and that improving lives in poor Black communities improves lives for all. But we have to make it happen.
The first two-thirds of Sellers' memoir is about his childhood, education, and run for office. He speaks about how important it is for young, Black men to have role models and men of excellence to look up to, and how they need to be challenged in school and given the opportunities for higher education. He stresses how much forgotten communities leave people behind-- they don't know better prospects because they do not see better prospects. He also shows the intricacies running for politics and all of the on the ground, face to face work that goes into persuading voters. For any young person who is thinking about leadership in any form, they should read this book to learn how it is done. Sellers is not just a dreamer, but a doer. He details the immense amount of pressure there is to be both a Black man and a public figure, because what he does is not just about him, but his entire community. It's not until the last third of the book when he recounts the shooting at Mother Emanuel Church that left nine African-Americans dead, his wife's near-death experience, and the true extent of America's racism as revealed by Trump's election that the full force of his urgency is felt. In order for change to happen, it needs to happen on the streets and in the governing offices. People need to be activists, not just on the outside of the system, but inside, too. Too many in power today are more concerned about their political agendas than they are about providing services and building the communities they serve. This maintains the status quo and diminishes and destroys their constituents' lives.
What I really appreciate about his book is not only the telling of his father's work and sacrifices, but how he connects the often abstract issues of health care, education, industry to real, tangible issues on the ground. His work is a call to arms to be the voice for the voiceless and that improving lives in poor Black communities improves lives for all. But we have to make it happen.