My Vanishing Country

A Memoir

By: Bakari Sellers

Narrated by: Bakari Sellers

Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

What J. D. Vance did for Appalachia with Hillbilly Elegy, CNN analyst and one of the youngest state representatives in South Carolina history Bakari Sellers does for the rural South, in this important audiobook that illuminates the lives of America’s forgotten Black working-class men and women.

Part memoir, part historical and cultural analysis, My Vanishing Country is an eye-opening journey through the South's past, present, and future.

Anchored in in Bakari Seller’s hometown of Denmark, South Carolina, Sellers illuminates the pride and pain that continues to fertilize the soil of one of the poorest states in the nation. He traces his father’s rise to become, friend of Stokely Carmichael and Martin Luther King, a civil rights hero, and member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) , to explore the plight of the South's dwindling rural, Black working class - many of whom can trace their ancestry back for seven generations.

In his poetic personal history, we are awakened to the crisis affecting the other “Forgotten Men and Women” whom the media seldom acknowledges. For Sellers, these are his family members, neighbors, and friends. He humanizes the struggles that shape their lives: to gain access to healthcare as rural hospitals disappear; to make ends meet as the factories they have relied on shut down and move overseas; to hold on to precious traditions as their towns erode; to forge a path forward without succumbing to despair.

My Vanishing Country is also a love letter to fatherhood - to Sellers' father, his lodestar, whose life lessons have shaped him, and to his newborn twins, who he hopes will embrace the Sellers family name and honor its legacy.

©2020 Bakari Sellers (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

What America Needs NOW!!!

I’ve watched Bakari Sellers on CNN many times and often wondered “who is this kid” going in on and often toe-to-toe with many political pundits? After reading “My Vanishing Country,” I am grateful for the opportunity to peer through the window of the eyes of a young, gifted and yes talented African American male who is unapologetically honest — while at the same, truthful and vulnerable in sharing his story: A story about an America that is vanishing before our very eyes.

This is a story that anyone who sincerely loves the spirit of America needs to read and hear regardless of race, ethnicity, class, creed or cultural background. It is a story which has woven the stories of many young and elder African American males who struggle to have not only their voices heard, but the many groups who are voiceless heard as well.

The son of a father of the Civil Rights movement, Sellers shares the very real story of his father’s involvement in the Movement, along with images of his own upbringing. Sellers shares his family, his love, his fears in a memoir that is so needed for this current generation.

When I saw a now fully bearded Bakari on CNN recently, I had no idea I would be drawn into a very remarkable book and so grateful to have taken this journey through his past, his present and his very promising future.

Our country will not vanish with voices like Bakari Sellers crying out in the wilderness.

Review My Vanishing Country

From the beginning this book started off powerful giving history points about Mr. Sellers rural small home town! It shined some light on the Orangeburg County Massacre and provided knowledge. Overall his journey to leadership is powerful and truly a great avenue for young men of color to push to do their best! Lastly, I definitely encourage everyone to check this book out.

Excellent timely memoir.

I couldn't stop listening, Bakari Sellers comes across as a thoughtful, kind, intelligent human being. I hope he runs for office again some day. I also hope he and his family have healthy long lives. It is amazing how timely this book is considering it was written prior to George Floyd's death, another well written reminder of the injustices for Black Americans.

Inspiring

riveting!! couldn't put it down...Rekindled feeling, and reflections of my formative years, and time I spent in service at Fort Jackson , SC in the 60's.

interesting and informative

Bakari Sellers does a good job narrating his story. Perhaps it's his age but as interesting as it was, i was left wanting more. More detail about his father's railroading and more details about his challenges growing up as well as his time as a state representative and failed bid for South Carolina Lieutenant Governor. Even so, it was enjoyable and enlightening.

Bakari is a young man with an old soul.

Loved it!
Beautiful memoir written from the soul. Bakari has wisdom beyond his 35 years as evidenced by the influence history and legacy have on his actions today. I appreciate his honesty and cold hard truths. With so much accomplished in his life thus far, I can only imagine what more is in store for him.

Thank You Bakari Sellers

Thank you Bakari Sellers for giving me a way to connect to Black Lives Matter at a deeper level. This book is a must-read for all the people who experience "White Privilege" and think only "All Lives Matter". Of course all lives matter but we need to get back to our core and realize- it hasn't been working this way for way too long. Civil Rights is about making sure everyone's civil rights are honored. This is especially important not when we appear to have a Privileged White President who seems to favor only his own race. All lives cannot matter if we allow him to continue to do this. He is wrong. Many people are paying the price for his belief in false white supremacy ideals. Wake up America and become what we have always been meant to be: "Crowned Thy Good with Brotherhood from sea to shining sea."

please run for president!

This was a wonderful eye opening book no matter what race, gender, or even political party you are! I am ashamed of how ignorant I was on our own country and how we have so much poverty here, and how the social class has a big gap between even race. I choose to educate myself on this and am now following Bakari. His life is astonishing on how he has already made a difference, and I hope that he will take his career as far as Presidency! (SOON!!!)

Country Living

When people think of county living they think of white dudes in pick-up trucks and the good ole boys. Bakari shines a light on being black in a small town in a captivating way.

Thank you

Thank you Bakari Sellers. Thank you for your vulnerability, compassion, and courage. Your story resonates on so many levels. I am inspired.