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WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

This is on point.

I'm Megna Chakrabardi.

Congressman James Clyburn is one of the most influential Democrats in the House.

He was first elected in 1992 to represent South Carolina's

6th Congressional District. He's held that seat for the last three decades. Congressman

Clyburn served as the second African American and first South Carolinian to be majority whip,

which he did twice from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023.

And as a black man of his generation, Clyburn's life has been inseparable from the civil rights movement.

In the House, he has worked on issues as far ranging as increasing the federal minimum wage to helping establish the Affordable Care Act.

Congressman Clyburn is also the author of the memoir, Blessed Experiences,

Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black.

And now he has a new book, which we'll talk about today.

It's called The First Eight, a personal history of the pioneering black congressman

who shaped a nation.

And he joins us now to talk about it. Congressman Clyburn, welcome to On Point.

Well, thank you very much for having me. It's a great pleasure to be able to speak with you. Now, in the title of your book, it's called The Pioneering Black Congressman who shaped a nation. But we're talking about congressmen from a specific state, your own, correct?

That's correct. These eight men were from South Carolina. They all served doing and post

reconstruction. I'm a stickler for getting the facts right. And to me, the reconstruction period lasted for only about 13 years. And so some of these men served after Reconstruction came to an end, but they all left before the century ended.

I'm sure a lot of listeners who know at least a little, if not a lot, of people. They all left before the century ended.

I'm sure a lot of listeners who know at least a little, if not a lot of your congressional career are doing a double take at the moment because they're saying, wait, what?

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