Invisible Senators

From the author of the acclaimed Invisible Generals comes the unsung history of the first Black US senators—two men who overcame fierce resistance to help America forge a multiracial democracy.

In 1870, a mere five years after the end of the Civil War, Hiram Revels was sworn in as the first Black US senator. Born a freeman in North Carolina, he would become, in the words of abolitionist Wendell Phillips, “the Fifteenth Amendment in flesh and blood.” During his tenure, Revels fought for civil rights, public education, and birthright citizenship.

Revels was followed in the Senate by Blanche K. Bruce. Born enslaved, Bruce’s life journey was one of unyielding advocacy for equality and justice. He became the first Black Senator to preside over a Senate session, introducing pivotal legislation aimed at securing backpay for Black servicemen and birthright citizenship for everyone born in America. His vision extended beyond mere survival. Bruce sought incremental progress, promoting infrastructure development that would unite a divided North and South into a singular nation and calling for political reforms that embraced all Americans.

Revels and Bruce faced fierce opposition from within both major political parties. When Bruce’s term ended, there wouldn’t be another Black US senator for eighty-six years. A systematic, century-long campaign sought to diminish the accomplishments of Revels, Bruce, and their Black Reconstruction-era peers to virtual obscurity.

Unflinching and inspiring, Invisible Senators pays tribute to Revels and Bruce and their legacies—bonded by friendship, shared ambition, and an unwavering desire to forge a more equitable America. Eye-opening and propulsive, it “gives these Reconstruction pioneers their due, and reminds us, as we pass our 250th year, how far we’ve come and how much is still ours to finish” (John Hope Bryant, founder, chairman, and CEO of Operation HOPE).