Story by Maggie Prosser, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Congressman Jim Clyburn’s book memorializes eight trailblazing Black politician from South Carolina and weaves commentary on modern American politics. When U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina became majority whip, a high-ranking member of Democratic leadership, in 2007 he asked the Library of Congress for photos of eight men to display on the walls of his Washington, D.C., office. He recalled, years ago, that a group of visitors stopped and asked who the men were: the first Black U.S. House members from his home state. “I thought you were the first,” someone from the group said. Clyburn replied: “Before I was first, there were eight.”