On this day in 1922, Charles Diggs Jr., Michigan’s first Black U.S. House member was born.
In 1954 he joined representatives from Chicago and New York as a trio of the only African Americans in Congress.
Serving from 1969 to 1971, Diggs was also the first chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
During that time, he drew national headlines as the only congressman to attend the trial of two white men accused of murdering Emmett Till.
Rep. John Conyers, who was a colleague of Diggs Jr. once said, “Congressman Diggs paved the way for an entire generation of Black political leaders, not just in his home state, but throughout the nation.”
All this and more on “Prime.”
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