Adam Serwer: Success Is Not Your Own

(The Root) -- At last year's The Root 100 gala, Mother Jones reporter and 2012 The Root 100 honoree Adam Serwer told us that he owes his success to the African Americans who came before him.

"Your success is not your own. Someone put in the work to help make you who you are," he said. The view might not be a popular one, he says, but black Americans are keenly aware that they owe their success to pioneers of the past.

Watch the rest below, and check out "The Root of My Success" videos from MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry, fashion designer Tracy Reese and the Schomburg Center's Khalil Gibran Muhammad.

Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.