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Dr. Cleveland Sellers was wounded 40 years ago protesting racial segregation and discrimination.

Today, his son state Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-Denmark, is continuing his father's legacy of fighting for his beliefs in the General Assembly.

The younger Sellers' presence in the Statehouse is testament to the sacrifices of people such as his father on the front lines of the civil rights movement. While Sellers survived the Orangeburg Massacre shootings in 1968, Henry Smith, Delano Middleton and Samuel Hammond died when state troopers opened fire on protesting students on the night of Feb. 8.

Their memories were honored Friday at South Carolina State University at a ceremony commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Orangeburg Massacre, so named based on the title of a book about the incident.

• Video   CLICK HERE to watch video footage from Friday's silent march and torch lighting.

SCSU history professor Dr. William Hine told the several hundred in attendance the tragic deaths were not in vain.

Hine recounted the strides in racial equality that have been made in South Carolina since that faithful day. He noted that in 1968 there were no African-Americans in the state Legislature. Then he recognized state Sen. John Matthews, state .jpg. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, Jerry Govan and Sellers.

Hine recognized former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ernest Finney, who presided over the program, as the first African-American elected to the state's high court since Reconstruction.

"We've made some progress over the last 40 years. There's still more progress to be made," Hine said.

Cleveland Sellers then took center stage as keynote speaker. He was one of 27 people wounded in the gunfire and later served seven months in jail for leading the protesters. He was pardoned in 1993.

Sellers also cited what he called indisputable evidence of progress. However he says for those involved on Feb. 8, 1968, the physical and emotional wounds are still open.

"Scars are kind of living history," said Sellers, who is director of African-American Studies at the University of South Carolina.

He said the physical wounds will never heal, and beneath the surface of those wounds lie the emotional ones. Sellers recalled the emotions of the students that day when he said they were fighting for a just cause against the segregated status quo.

He said what happened in Orangeburg on that day in 1968 escaped the annuls of the nation's history but remains embedded in the conscience of the Palmetto State. Sellers then touched on the ceremony's theme of truth and reconciliation.

"We must forgive, but we will not forget," he said.

He said the state's final report on the incident contains several inaccuracies. The first fallacy was the allegation that gunfire was exchanged between the student protesters and law enforcement. Students didn't charge toward the police, he said.

Sellers said it is untrue that he started the protest. Sellers noted that SCSU had a long history of protesting civil rights injustices. "I didn't have to teach them how to protest."

He called for a state inquiry to uncover facts about the incident. "A blue ribbon committee is the only way we can get to the truth," he said to a standing ovation.

He called for the audience to petition representatives to vote for an investigation. "The moral arm of the university is long, but it certainly bends toward justice," Sellers said.

Following Sellers' speech, Finney asked the families of the victims to stand for recognition. The survivors took the stage before going outside to the monument to Smith, Hammond and Middleton.

There SCSU Interim President Dr. Leonard McIntyre and Claflin University President Dr. Henry Tisdale lit a torch.

During the ceremony, a taped message from former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw was played. He called the Orangeburg Massacre one of the most shameful acts during the civil rights movement. He credited the individuals killed and injured that day with providing opportunity for future generations.

"You have to remember the past to build the future," Brokaw said.

McIntyre, Tisdale, Orangeburg Mayor Paul Miller and former Gov. Jim Hodges all made remarks as well. And Finney introduced ex-SCSU President Leroy Davis and Andrew Hugine. The Hugine introduction was greeted by a thunderous ovation.

Miller read the text of "Orangeburg, let us heal ourselves ..." a statement signed by 250 community leaders in 1999 pledging that the Feb. 8 anniversary would be a time of solemn remembrance and not one of divisiveness.

Gov. Mark Sanford was not at the ceremony, but his statement from him was read aloud by Finney.

"This event is important in remembering this sad chapter in our state's history, a chapter I believe lasted far too long before the truth was known and an apology offered. While we remember that day, it's crucial we rededicate ourselves to working together toward a shared and brighter future," Sanford said.

Hodges discussed the bonfire students lit that night in front of the campus. It was part of the ongoing protest aimed at desegregating the local bowling alley. Hodges said that just as the bonfire was put out, also extinguished were the lives of three brave men.

"But that bonfire still glows brightly today. It glows through people like Cleveland Sellers. ... And 40 years later Cleveland Sellers' son Bakari now holds a seat in the same South Carolina Legislature that fought his efforts," Hodges said.

The younger Sellers said the Legislative Black Caucus is attempting to get legislation through the General Assembly that would launch a formal inquiry into the Orangeburg Massacre. "I'm always hopeful for the truth. We look forward to just the truth, that's all we want."

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-534-1060.