South Carolina’s 6th district house election just became a lot more interesting.
Marcel Dixon is a Black human rights advocate of Gullah descent, a sect of Black Americans who trace their lineage back to Geechee revolutionaries of South Carolina, while he’s also a teacher, social activist, and now running for congress.
Dixon made the official announcement last month on his social media, stating that he was “fed up” with current US House Representative Jim Clyburn’s decisions and lack of action on behalf of the Black community.
Dixon was born in Savannah, Georgia and in Ridgeland South Carolina where he currently resides.
Dixon has served as a public educator for nearly 20 years, with a majority of that tenure coming from the Royal Oak Academy Arts & Sciences Charter School where he taught elementary students.
Marcel was also once voted District Teacher of the Year.
His activist career includes a decade of advocating against police violence against Black citizens, 6 years of advocating for cash payment reparations for American slave descended Black Americans.
He’s written and proposed legislation for the South Carolina legislative assembly as well as met with local families in Lowcountry to get a better grasp on the biggest issues facing the community.
His notable policy positions include a proposal for class protection status for those descending from those who were enslaved by the American government, a proposal for allotments of land that would be federally granted and protected for Freedman (FBA), federally subsidized housing and business grants for Black Americans, a reestablishment of the Freedmen Bureaus, and a commission to specifically review and immediately address the unique challenges facing black men and boys.
A major focus of Dixon’s campaign is on creating feasible transportation for South Carolinians.
According to his website “The 6th Congressional District of South Carolina is 97% rural, only 3% urban, and to that end, over 90% of individuals here, including myself, commute to work every day. For many people in SC District Six, myself included, public transportation is nowhere near where we live, completely inaccessible, and hence, our vehicles are an absolute necessity.”
Dixon plans to address this by partnering with small businesses to subsidize car services for qualified individuals with local car mechanic shops and auto repair warranties distributors to cover routine maintenance as well as introduce tax write-offs for individuals in rural counties that have to commute to receive essential services.
Dixon is also planning to completely revamp the 6th districts decaying infrastructure, which he describes as A Better Plan for Thriving Communities, and plans to speak more on it in the coming months.
Dixon’s opponent James Clyburn has served as the 6th district representative since 1993 and is also highest paid recipient of campaign donations in the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).
The lion share of Clyburn’s campaign donations come from pharmaceutical lobbyist, reaching nearly $1 million in funding in the since 2010 per congressional records.
Clyburn also collects funds through his “Research and Scholarship” foundation where dozens of corporations have donated to him. So far he’s raised $1.6 million.
Most notably, Clyburn is known for his flagrant and blatant refusal to aide Black citizens in his own district.
“At times he’s just down right disrespectful to us, and he works for us not the other way around.” said Dixon in a recent web interview with Tony Delerme of the TD Hip Hop Media news network.
“I looked around and said if no one else is going to run and be the change that we need then i will.” he finished.
If you want to see Marcel Dixon’s full interview with TD Hip Hop Media click here.
If you’d like to donate the Dixon 2022 campaign click here.
-Kerry Hill, Barrington Williams, B1Daily
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