Invisible Black Politics: An Analysis of Black Congressional Leadership from the Inside

The latest virtual issue of PS features articles written by alumni of the Congressional Fellowship Program (CFP) from 2010 to 2015. The CFP fellows serve yearlong placements in congressional and executive offices, and they chronicle their firsthand experiences in the pages of PS. Enjoy the full virtual issue here.

Invisible Black Politics: An Analysis of Black Congressional Leadership from the Inside

Katrina L. Gamble, Brown University

“For most of American history, black Americans were excluded from the political process. Even after the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, for decades, especially in the South, blacks were prevented from voting through various institutional tactics (e.g., poll taxes and literacy tests), violence, and intimidation. As a result, most political institutions through the mid-twentieth century had few or no black faces. With the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Fifteenth Amendment was codified, and blacks began to vote and participate in the political process in unprecedented ways.” Read More.