Civil rights activist to get belated Eagle Scout honor

COLUMBIA, S.C —  . -- Years before civil rights activist Cleveland Sellers got caught up in the deadly 1968 protest known as the Orangeburg Massacre, he was on the path to the elite rank of Eagle Scout -- until his paperwork was lost.

Next month, the 64-year-old, who called himself a black militant in his autobiography, will formally collect the honor in a ceremony in his hometown.

He said he hoped it would add an important layer to his image, which to many people is linked to him being the only person convicted on a riot charge in the civil rights protest at a historically black college that ended with three students gunned down by state troopers.

“People have tried to create these monsters and make us something that we weren’t because it helped them make their case,” said Sellers, the director of the African American studies program at the University of South Carolina.

“I think it’s important for people to know who I am and maybe through the process that will help lower the barrier and lower the kind of imagery they have of me.”

He credited Scouting for his appreciation of nature and sense of orderliness.

After his years as a Scout, Sellers earned a doctorate in education and dedicated his life to improving the lives of black South Carolinians. During his early activism days, he sat in on planning sessions with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

But he remains best-known for his role in the protest where he was among 27 people wounded.

He spent seven months in prison, and 23 years after his conviction he was pardoned.