Photo: Photographers: Daniele Venturelli, Chip Somodevilla and Leon Bennett (Getty Images)
If you sat down and created a long list of names of some of the most prominent Black people in entertainment, politics and so on, you’ll start to notice that many of them were born or raised in the state of South Carolina. We noticed it when we started searching for nominees for The Root 100 list in 2024. Since then, we have tried to crack the mystery of why are there so many Black superstars from this one troubled state.
People who aren’t from South Carolina may associate the state with racial trauma above Black Excellence: From way back to current day, the state has suffered more than its share of racially-charged killings: 2015 alone included the anti-Black massacre at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and that same year unarmed Walter Scott was fatally shot in the back by a white police officer who claimed Scott had tried to harm him. Between that and dismal statistics around education and incarceration, the state often has the odds going against it.
But people who hail from the state see it as much more. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the United States in 1860, leading to the start of the Civil War, but Black South Carolinians have helped to lead Black America to freedom. In the case of Walter Scott, a video showed what happened, protest emerged and the white officer who shot Scott was sent to prison. In other words, South Carolinians may have uphill battles, but they’re willing to take a stand up for what’s right and to fight for what they deserve.
“I believe a number of people have been driven to prove the skeptics wrong. For so many years South Carolina was considered one of the worst States when it came to education, incarceration rates and other key measures that are indicators of future success. Expectations were traditionally low,” businessman Walter Davis told The Root. “Self-determination and the desire to overcome the odds are important factors for many Black South Carolinians.”
Put even more succinctly by politician-businessman Stephen K. Benjamin: “Punching above our weight is simply what we do.”
Knowing the state’s history of principle, perseverance, and defiance, it only makes sense that it’s the home of so many trailblazers across politics, entertainment, business, and activism. Below, see a list of some of the most prominent Black people to come from South Carolina.
