On Friday, Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) assembled a panel of experts at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Caucus to predict the future.
As a former history teacher, Clyburn knows that the past is the best predictor of the future. So, instead of convening a coven of witches, soothsayers or prophetesses with special Holy Ghost powers, Clyburn gathered experts on the OG MAGA movement, Reconstruction. The panel included:
Rep. James Clyburn: South Carolina’s first Black congressman since Reconstruction, Clyburn has served as the U.S. representative for the state’s 6th Congressional District since 1993.
Dr. Bobby Donaldson: scholar of southern history and African-American life and culture, Donaldson is a professor at the University of South Carolina, where he leads the Center for Civil Rights History and Research.
Aderson Francois: Before becoming director of the civil rights section of the Institute for Public Representation (IPR) and the Voting Rights Institute at Georgetown, Francois directed the Civil Rights Clinic at Howard University School of Law.
Sherrilyn Ifill: After serving as the seventh president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) from 2013 to 2022, Ifill is currently the Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Esq. Endowed Chair in Civil Rights at Howard University.
If you want to know why everyone keeps talking about Reconstruction, this is for you. If you’ve ever wondered why a presidential administration would try to erase Black history, here is your answer. If you want to know about insurrections, election denial, authoritarian governments or the end of democracy …
You’re welcome.
