Orangeburg Massacre survivor shares lessons of activism, courage and responsibility
with University 101 students
ORANGEBURG, S.C. —A group of freshman students at South Carolina State University recently received
a living history lesson from civil rights activist and educator Dr. Cleveland L. Sellers
Jr.
The Denmark, South Carolina, native spoke to a group of University 101 students Sept.
23 about his activism and how the struggle for justice continues among a new generation
of leaders.
“We have an opportunity that no textbook can replicate to hear directly from a man
who witnessed and survived one of the most significant and tragic events in the history
of South Carolina State University and the Civil Rights Movement,” said Angel Pointer,
SC State director of customer service and a University 101 instructor.
Remembering the Orangeburg Massacre
On the night of Feb. 8, 1968, during what has become known as the Orangeburg Massacre,
three young men were killed when officers opened fire on a crowd of unarmed Black
students who had rallied on campus after demonstrating against segregation at a local
bowling alley.
Henry Smith, Samuel Hammond Jr. and Delano Middleton were killed, and 28 others were
injured. Sellers was among the wounded and later arrested, becoming the only protester
indicted and convicted in the case.
He served approximately seven months in jail. During his imprisonment, he wrote his
autobiography, titled “The River of No Return: The Autobiography of a Black Militant
and the Life and Death of SNCC.”
“It’s important for you to learn how to write,” said Sellers, who received a full
pardon 25 years later after the Orangeburg Massacre.
“I was pardoned but they didn’t erase the sentence. I have spent more than three years
in prison for crimes I did not commit. I was a student at Howard University. When
I left, I was a member of a group called NAG, Nonviolent Action Group,” he said.
The power of student activism
Sellers joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1962 as part of its
NAG affiliate. He later became SNCC’s program director in 1965, overseeing field projects
including the Mississippi Summer Project.
“I talk about NAG because I have to talk about the importance of student activism.
We were able to organize ourselves and go down to Mississippi in 1964 for what was
called the Mississippi Summer Project,” said Sellers, who shared the early history
of his activism.
Better known as Freedom Summer, the project was a civil rights campaign launched to
register African American voters in Mississippi and challenge the state’s oppressive
voting system.
“Mississippi Summer Project was a project of 800 students from all over the country.
Our job was to go down and organize people into an independent political party called
the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party,” Sellers said.
He said the brutal death of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago who
was abducted, tortured and lynched Aug. 28, 1955, in Mississippi after being accused
of whistling at a white woman, was an impetus for them to try to make a difference.
“That was the trigger for us…. We weren’t frightened. We weren’t scared. You have
to decide for yourself whether or not you have the courage to make a difference, and
if you develop that kind of courage, you can step onto the pages of history and actually
make a difference,” Sellers said.
‘Young people stepped up’
He referenced the nonviolent protests SC State students launched in opposition to
the selection of state Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette as the spring commencement speaker,
with student leaders and alumni arguing she did not reflect the values and experiences
of the student body.
“I was so proud of the students here. There’s a long and rich history of protest here
at South Carolina State and Claflin, and a lot of times they were joined. I think
that there is usually a crisis when it arises, but I remember the recent demonstrations,”
Sellers said.
“I remember the kind of leadership that stepped up. Young people stepped up and stepped
in and did what they were supposed to do. That’s because of the history,” he said.
As he reflected on the Orangeburg Massacre, he said he didn’t think the courage Smith,
Hammond and Middleton showed on that fateful day had been explained enough in history.
“I don’t think it explained the level of courage that the individuals that were murdered
had to go through. This was the first place that a university had had a mass shooting
of students in the country. This was unprovoked,” Sellers said.
The courage to make a difference
Sellers said he felt it was important to come speak to the University 101 class about
history.
“Without some kind of Freedom School that intervenes at an earlier age, I know that
young people don’t know much about their own history. They don’t understand the courage
and the determination and commitment and dedication that go along with doing anything,”
Sellers said.
“I just came to kind of open that arena up so they can begin examine, see where they
are, and go out and find some information and start getting aware of what’s going
on,” he said.
Sellers said his civil rights journey has come with having to make sacrifices along
the way.
“When I was going off to college in 1962, I became an Eagle Scout, and I received
my award 50 years after that. So, you have to get used to those disappointments,”
he said.
Sellers expressed pride in his three children, whom he described as having “made the
difference in my life.”
The youngest is former state Rep. Bakari Sellers, an attorney and political commentator
who served as the featured speaker during SC State’s 50th anniversary commemoration
ceremony for the Orangeburg Massacre in 2018.
After his activism, Sellers became an educator and president of Voorhees College,
and later director of African American Studies at the University of South Carolina.
History comes to life for students
Tydaria Corbett, 20, a freshman psychology major from Charleston, said she learned
details about the Orangeburg Massacre from Sellers that she had not known before.
“It was very informing. Actually hearing about it from someone that went through it
made it more informing than just hearing it from someone who’s heard it from everybody
else,” Corbett said.
“I heard about it, but I didn’t do much research on it … until I got here. Having
him speak was better than doing research online,” she said, noting that she took notes.
Deja Wood, 18, a freshman chemistry major from the Bahamas, said she thought Sellers’
speech was amazing.
“He talked about the Orangeburg Massacre happening in the height of the civil rights
movement, putting it in perspective that segregation wasn’t something ancient and
still plays a big part in our life,” she said.
“He talked about the Claflin and SC State students. It honestly felt so real seeing
a part of history right in front of me,” Wood said.
