House of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs, Jr.
Vividly written and deeply researched, The House of Diggs is the first biography of Congressman Charles C. Diggs, Jr., perhaps the most consequential Black federal legislator to ever serve in the U.S. Congress. Congressman Diggs was a legislative lion whose unfortunate downfall at the end of a distinguished career helped to push him and his historic accomplishments out of sight. Now, for the first time, The House of Diggs gives Diggs his much-deserved place in the history of American politics. In a political career that ran from 1955 to 1980, Diggs, Michigan’s first Black member of Congress, was the only federal official to attend the trial of Emmett Till’s killers, worked closely with Martin Luther King, Jr., founded the Congressional Black Caucus, was the chief architect of legislation that brought home-rule to Washington, D.C., and in the 1960s, ignited, virtually alone, the American anti-apartheid movement and accomplished much, much more. Brown University political scientist Marion Orr, drawing on extensive archival research, including Diggs’s rarely seen personal papers, FBI documents, and original interviews with family members and political associates, reveals that Diggs practiced a “politics of strategic moderation,” an approach that was typically quieter than the militant race politics practiced by Adam Clayton Powell and more appealing than the conservative Chicago-style approach of William Dawson, his better-known Black contemporaries, and more effective than both. Orr shows that Diggs worked across divisions within Congress and with six presidents -- from Eisenhower to Carter -- to advance his policy goals. Diggs was not just a powerful congressman from Detroit, but an influential Black leader on the national and global stages. You can’t understand the civil rights movement nor the rise of Black political power without understanding the central role played by Congressman Diggs.
Reviews
“The definitive biography of the civil rights legislator we never should have forgotten. This book will change our collective understanding of Charles C. Diggs, Jr., the civil rights era, and the political battles we're still fighting today.” — Van Jones, CNN Host and NYT Bestselling Author “Engaging, essential, and meticulously researched. Marion Orr reveals Rep. Charles C. Diggs Jr.’s pivotal role in the civil rights movement at a time when ‘Black politics shifted from protest to elections.’ House of Diggs details how Congressman Diggs’s dogged persistence and a strategically moderate approach to building coalitions changed the landscape of segregated America.” — Tamara Payne, Pulitzer Prize–winning coauthor of The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X “An impressive and important book about an overlooked figure in the fight for civil rights. Marion Orr tells the story of Charles C. Diggs Jr. with deep insight, diligent research, and crisp writing.” — Jonathan Eig, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of King: A Life “Marion Orr brings us deep into Congressman Charles Diggs’s world, brilliantly capturing the fullness and complexity of a legendary political icon who fought segregationists at home and abroad in the pursuit of a more equal and just world. Diggs—gifted, brave, and yet deeply flawed—was far more than a consequential civil rights activist and legislator during the tumultuous 1950s,’60s, and ’70s. He was also a self-promoter who spent lavishly and irresponsibly, costing him his reputation and legacy. This page-turning biography is riveting and timely!” — Kate Clifford Larson, author of Walk with Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer “This wonderfully readable biography rewrites the history of Black urban politics and civil rights through one of its most compelling and flawed characters.” — Thomas J. Sugrue, author of Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North “A skillfully rendered, scrupulously researched, and highly readable portrait of an important civil rights leader, long overdue for recognition.” — James McGrath Morris, author of the New York Times bestseller Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press “An unmatched and wonderfully complex exploration of Charles Diggs Jr. Marion Orr has probed, explored, and added a great deal to our understanding of many different areas of politics.” — Dianne Pinderhughes, coauthor of Contested Transformation: Race, Gender, and Political Leadership in 21st Century America “The best full-scale assessment of Diggs’s remarkable career that I know of. House of Diggs provocatively and compellingly demonstrates Marion Orr’s claim that no other Black member of Congress can match the tangible impact of Diggs’s life and work.” — Waldo E. Martin Jr., author of No Coward Soldiers: Black Cultural Politics in Postwar America