THE FIRST EIGHT A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation

This audiobook profiles the first eight South Carolinians of color to serve in Congress. It's written by the ninth--but there was a gap of several decades between numbers eight and nine. The first eight included free Northern blacks who moved to South Carolina after the Civil War, native freedmen, and former slaves. Author Jim Clyburn chronicles their remarkable lives and narrates his own work. He adds appropriate emotion to the tales of defeat and victory, anguish and exultation. While his distinctive voice and delivery are admirably suited for the political stump or church pulpit, sadly it makes extended listening more challenging. A better choice would have been for Clyburn to narrate the introduction and a more polished narrator to deliver the rest. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2025]