Detroit has a number of famous representatives. Representatives John Dingell, labor leader Patrick McNamara, and Congressmember John Conyers. Charles Diggs, Jr. doesn’t often make these lists. But should he?

The first Black congressmember in Michigan, he worked with Martin Luther King, Jr, helped pass the Voting Rights Act, advocated for the end of apartheid in South Africa, and changed America's foreign policy stances toward many nations in Africa.

Why don’t more people know about him?  

Marion Orr is a professor of political science at Brown University. He spoke with Producer Sam Corey about his new book, "House of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs Jr."