This is Gavin Newsom And, This Is Where MAGA Got Their Playbook With Congressman Jim Clyburn
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Feb 19, 2026 Jim Clyburn, long-serving South Carolina congressman and civil rights leader, reflects on his ties to Jesse Jackson and John Lewis. He traces how Reconstruction and Jim Crow shape today’s fights over voter ID, DEI, and democracy. Short, candid conversations range from sit-in memories to strategies for winning back Black voters.
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Jailhouse Meeting Turned Lifelong Partnership
- Jim Clyburn met his future wife Emily while jailed after a 1960 civil rights march when she handed him half a hamburger.
- He married her 18 months later and they stayed together for 58 years, illustrating personal roots in activism.
Meeting King And A Lifelong Bond With Lewis
- Jim Clyburn recounts meeting Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis as a 19-year-old SNCC member and how those encounters shaped his activism.
- He describes a final phone call with John Lewis shortly before Lewis's death, underscoring their deep lifelong friendship.
From Election Loss To State Leadership
- After a contested 1970 race reversal, Governor John West recruited Clyburn to work in the governor's office, starting his public service career.
- Clyburn later led the State Human Affairs Commission for nearly 18 years before running for Congress.