In this special 2025 Black History Month podcast, the Honorable Jaime Harrison, 2024-2025 Chairman of the U.S. Democratic National Committee, provides his personal reflections on the importance of Black History in the U.S. This podcast also features SNHU student and PenMen Award Winner Ana Duarte who serves as the guest interviewer for this podcast. Director: Dr. Laman Tasch.

Mr. Jaime Harrison

As the son of a single teenage mom, Jaime Harrison was raised by his grandparents in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Jaime knows what it’s like for a family to choose between paying the electric bill and putting food on the table and what it feels like to sleep in a home with no heat because the power was shut off. But thanks to a good public school education, his family's love, and his community's support, Jaime earned a scholarship to Yale University and attended Georgetown Law. After college, Jaime returned to Orangeburg to teach at his old high school, then worked to help empower disadvantaged kids to attend college. Jaime also served as an aide to legendary South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn. In 2013, Jaime was elected the first African American chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, a position he held until 2017 when DNC Chair Tom Perez appointed him as an Associate Chair of the DNC. In 2020, Jaime ran for the U.S. Senate from South Carolina, building a national grassroots movement and setting a fundraising record for the most raised by a Senate candidate. Jaime and his wife Marie live in Columbia, South Carolina, where they raise their two young sons.

Ana Duarte