Jim Clyburn: “I often reflect upon my childhood growing up in South Carolina. I remember when I was but a teenager, when my mother…”

“I often reflect upon my childhood growing up in South Carolina. I remember when I was but a teenager, when my mother, who owned a beauty shop, came one day and asked that I accompany her to the Sumter County, South Carolina courtroom because she wanted me to see some transformation taking place in our State and Nation. When I went down that day, I had the great honor of watching in utter amazement a great South Carolinian, Matthew Perry, who was arguing a case called Nash against the South Carolina Conference of Branches of NAACP. My mother wanted me to see Matthew Perry because she said to me on that day, 'I want you to see what you can be if you stay in school, study hard, and grow up to live out your dreams.' I always held that day with me as I went away to college at South Carolina State University. It was in my junior year that I was bitten by the bug that we all call the Student Movement.”