Terri Sewell
| Terri Sewell | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 7th district |
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Assumed office January 3, 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Artur Davis |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Terrycina Andrea Sewell January 1, 1965 Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater |
Princeton University St Hilda's College, Oxford Harvard Law School |
| Religion | African Methodist Episcopal Church |
| Website | House website |
Terrycina Andrea "Terri" Sewell/ˈsuːəl/ (born January 1, 1965) is an American politician, elected in 2010 as the U.S. Representative for Alabama's 7th congressional district. The 7th district includes most of the Black Belt, as well as most of the predominantly black portions of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery.
Sewell is a member of the Democratic Party and the first black woman elected to Congress from Alabama. Sewell is the only Democrat in Alabama's seven-member congressional delegation. Sewell and Republican Martha Roby, also elected in 2010, are the first women elected to Congress from Alabama in regular elections.
A native of Selma, Sewell is a graduate of Princeton University, Harvard Law School and Oxford University. She is a public finance attorney.
Terrycina Sewell, known as "Terri," was raised in Selma, Alabama. She is the daughter of Andrew A. Sewell, a former high school basketball coach, and Nancy Gardner Sewell, a retired high school librarian and former City Councilwoman in Selma. Her mother was the first black woman elected to the Selma City Council. Both parents held careers in the Selma public school system.
Sewell was the first black valedictorian of Selma High School. Her mother's family was politically active, offering its homestead to activists who came for the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches to gain voting rights. Sewell spent her childhood summers in Lowndes County, Alabama with her maternal grandparents. Her grandfather, a Primitive Baptist minister and a farmer, instilled in her a love for the land, an appreciation of hard work, and the importance of her faith. Her grandfather and the members of Beulah Primitive Baptist Church gave her a deep understanding of the Black Belt Region and its people.
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