Andrew Young
Encyclopedia
Andrew Jackson Young is an American
politician, diplomat, activist and pastor from Georgia
. He has served as Mayor of Atlanta
, a Congressman from the 5th district
, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations
. He served as President of the National Council of Churches USA, was a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and was a supporter and friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Since leaving political office in 1989, Young has founded or served in a large number of organizations founded on public policy, political lobbying and international relations, with a special focus on Africa
.
, Louisiana
to Daisy Fuller Young, a school teacher, and Andrew Jackson Young, Sr., a dentist
. Young's father hired a professional boxer to teach Andrew and his brother how to fight, so they could defend themselves. From that, Young decided that violence
was not the path he would choose to follow.
, Young transferred to Howard University
in Washington, D.C. in 1947, and received his Bachelor of Science in pre-dentistry degree there in 1951. He originally had planned to follow his father's career of dentistry, but then felt a religious calling. He entered the Turner-Boatright Christian ministry school and earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Hartford Seminary
in Hartford, Connecticut
, in 1955.
Young is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha
fraternity.
Young was appointed to serve as pastor of a church in Marion
, Alabama
. It was there in Marion that he met Jean Childs, who later became his wife. Also while in Marion, Young began to study the writings of Mohandas Gandhi. Young became interested in Gandhi's concept of non-violent resistance as a tactic for social change. He encouraged African-Americans to register to vote in Alabama, and sometimes faced death threats while doing so. He became a friend and ally of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at this time.
In 1957, Young and Jean moved to New York City
to accept a job with the Youth Division of the National Council of Churches
. While in New York, Young regularly appeared on Look Up and Live, a weekly Sunday morning television program on CBS
, produced by the National Council of Churches in an effort to reach out to secular youth.
Young also travelled to Geneva
for meetings of the World Council of Churches around the United States.
However, as the Civil Rights Movement
gained momentum, Young decided that his place was back in the South. He and Jean moved to Atlanta, Georgia
in 1961, and again worked on drives to register black voters. In 1960 he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
. Young was jailed for his participation in civil rights demonstrations, both in Selma
, Alabama
, and in St. Augustine, Florida
. Young played a key role in the events in Birmingham, Alabama, serving as a mediator between the white and black communities. In 1964 Young was named executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC), becoming, in that capacity, one of Dr. King's principal lieutenants. As a colleague and friend to Martin Luther King Jr. he was a strategist and negotiator during the Civil Rights Campaigns in Birmingham (1963), St. Augustine (1964), Selma (1965), and Atlanta (1966) that resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. He was with King in Memphis
, Tennessee
, when King was assassinated in 1968.
for Congress
from Georgia, but was unsuccessful. After his defeat, Rev. Fred C. Bennette, Jr., introduced him to Murray M. Silver, Esq., Atlanta, Georgia, Attorney, who served as his campaign finance chairman, promoted concerts featuring top entertainers including Harry Belafonte and Bill Withers. He ran again in 1972 and won. He later was re-elected in 1974 and in 1976. During his four-plus years in Congress he was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus
, and he was involved in several debates regarding foreign relations including the decision to stop supporting the Portuguese attempts to hold on to their colonies in southern Africa. Young also sat on the powerful Rules committee and the Banking and Urban Development committee. Young opposed the Vietnam War, helped enact legislation that established a U.S. Institute for peace, established the Chattahoochee River National Park and negotiated federal funds for MARTA and the Atlanta Highways.
In 1977, President
Jimmy Carter
appointed Young to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations
(Young was replaced in Congress by Wyche Fowler
after a special election). Young became the first African-American to serve in the position. Young's controversial statements made headlines almost from the start. In August 1979, he appeared on the television show Meet the Press
and said that Israel
was "stubborn and intransigent."
As UN Ambassador, Young played a leading role in advancing a settlement in Rhodesia
with Robert Mugabe
and Joshua Nkomo
, who had been two of the military leaders in the Rhodesian Bush War
, which had ended in 1979. The settlement paved the way for Mugabe to take power as Prime Minister of the newly-formed Republic of Zimbabwe. There had been a general election in 1979
, bringing Bishop Abel Muzorewa
to power as leader of the United African National Council
leading to the short-lived country of Zimbabwe Rhodesia
. Young refused to accept the election's results, and described the election as "neofascist", a sentiment echoed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 445
and 448
. Writing in Commentary
at the time, civil-rights leader Bayard Rustin
argued that the elections were "free and fair", not held "with a gun at [the] heads" of the people. The situation was resolved the next year with the Lancaster House Agreement
and the establishment of Zimbabwe
.
In 2005, Gabriel Shumba, executive director of the anti-Mugabe Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, said:
Young's UN ambassadorship ended in August 1979, after Young met secretly, apparently in violation of American policy, with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization
. Jimmy Carter denied any complicity in what was called the "Andy Young Affair", and asked Young to resign. Asked about the incident by Time
soon afterward, Young stated, ""It is very difficult to do the things that I think are in the interest of the country and maintain the standards of protocol and diplomacy... I really don't feel a bit sorry for anything that I have done."
Young spent the next two years as a private citizen, as head of his consulting firm, "Young Ideas".
, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., Young ran for mayor
of Atlanta. He was elected later that year with 55% of the vote, succeeding Maynard Jackson
. As mayor of Atlanta, he brought in $70 billion of new private investment. He continued and expanded Maynard Jackson's programs for including minority and female-owned businesses in all city contracts. The Mayor's Task Force on Education established the Dream Jamboree College Fair that tripled the college scholarships given to Atlanta public school graduates. In 1985, he was involved in privatizing the Atlanta Zoo, which was renamed Zoo Atlanta
. The then-moribund zoo was overhauled, making ecological habitats specific to different animals.
Young was re-elected as Mayor in 1985 with more than 80% of the vote. Atlanta hosted the 1988 Democratic National Convention
during Young's tenure. He was prohibited by term limits from running for a third term.
primary run-off to future Governor Zell Miller
. However, while running for the Statehouse, he simultaneously was serving as a co-chairman of a committee which, at the time, was attempting to bring the 1996 Summer Olympics
to Atlanta. Young played a significant role in the success of Atlanta's bid to host the Summer Games.
In October 1994, then-U.S. president Bill Clinton
, along with then-president of South Africa
Nelson Mandela
, established the Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund (SAEDF), and named Young as its Chairman. The fund was established to provide funding to help small- and medium-size indigenous businesses throughout southern Africa.
In 1996, Young wrote A Way Out of No Way: The Spiritual Memoirs of Andrew Young, published by Thomas Nelson.
In 1996, Young and Carlton Masters co-founded GoodWorks International, a consulting firm "offering international market access and political risk analysis in key emerging markets within Africa and the Caribbean." The company's Web site also notes that "GWI principals have backgrounds in human rights and public service. The concept of enhancing the greater good is intrinsic to our business endeavors." Nike
is one of GoodWorks' most visible corporate clients. In the late 1990s, at the height of controversy over the company's labor practices, Young led a delegation to report on Nike operations in Vietnam
. Anti-sweatshop
activists derided the report as a whitewash and raised concerns that Nike was trading on Young's background as a civil-rights activist to improve Nike's corporate image.
Young also has been a director of the Drum Major Institute
for Public Policy, and also is the chairman of the board for the Global Initiative for the Advancement of Nutritional Therapy.
From 2000 to 2001, Young served as president of the National Council of Churches.
In 2003, Young founded the Andrew Young Foundation, an organization meant to support and promote education, health, leadership and human rights in the United States, Africa and the Caribbean.
In 2004 Young briefly considered running for U.S. Senate
from Georgia after the incumbent, Zell Miller
, announced his retirement, but decided not to re-enter public life.
In 2005, to honor the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
of 1965, Young, William Wachtel and Norman Ornstein founded Why Tuesday?
, a nonpartisan group dedicated to increasing voter participation by moving the national voting day from Tuesday to the weekend.
From February to August 2006, Young served as the public spokesman for Working Families for Wal-Mart
, an advocacy group for the retail chain Wal-Mart
. Young resigned from the position soon after a controversial interview with the Los Angeles Sentinel
, in which, when asked about Wal-Mart hurting independent business
es, he replied, "You see those are the people who have been overcharging us, and they sold out and moved to Florida
. I think they’ve ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it’s Arabs."
In 2007, the Andrew Young Foundation produced the documentary film Rwanda Rising, about Rwanda's progress since the Rwandan genocide
of 1994. Young also served as the film's narrator. Rwanda Rising premiered as the opening night selection at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2007.
An edited version of Rwanda Rising served as the pilot episode of Andrew Young Presents, a series of quarterly, hour long specials airing on nationally syndicated television.
On January 22, 2008, Young appeared as a guest on the television show The Colbert Report. Host Stephen Colbert
invited Young to appear during the writer's strike, because, many years earlier, Young and Colbert's father had worked together, but on opposite sides, to mediate a Charleston, South Carolina
, hospital workers' strike.
Young made another appearance on The Colbert Report on November 5, 2008, to talk about the election of Barack Obama
to the presidency.
Young himself was diagnosed with prostate cancer
in September 1999, which was successfully removed with surgery in January 2000.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician, diplomat, activist and pastor from Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. He has served as Mayor of Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, a Congressman from the 5th district
Georgia's 5th congressional district
Georgia's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Georgia. Based in central Fulton and parts of Dekalb and Clayton counties, the heavily African American district includes the state capital and largest city of Atlanta as well as many of the surrounding suburbs...
, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador...
. He served as President of the National Council of Churches USA, was a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and was a supporter and friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
Since leaving political office in 1989, Young has founded or served in a large number of organizations founded on public policy, political lobbying and international relations, with a special focus on Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
Early life
Andrew Young was born in New OrleansNew Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
to Daisy Fuller Young, a school teacher, and Andrew Jackson Young, Sr., a dentist
Dentist
A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...
. Young's father hired a professional boxer to teach Andrew and his brother how to fight, so they could defend themselves. From that, Young decided that violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
was not the path he would choose to follow.
Education
After beginning his higher education at Dillard UniversityDillard University
Dillard University is a private, historically black liberal arts college in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 incorporating earlier institutions that went back to 1869, it is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church....
, Young transferred to Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
in Washington, D.C. in 1947, and received his Bachelor of Science in pre-dentistry degree there in 1951. He originally had planned to follow his father's career of dentistry, but then felt a religious calling. He entered the Turner-Boatright Christian ministry school and earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Hartford Seminary
Hartford Seminary
Hartford Seminary is a theological college in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.-History:Seminaries in the city of Hartford date back to 1833. In 1913, the current Hartford Seminary came into existence through the combination of three Hartford-based schools affiliated with the city's Congregationalist...
in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, in 1955.
Young is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Inter-Collegiate Black Greek Letter fraternity. It was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its founders are known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha developed a model that was used by the many Black Greek Letter Organizations ...
fraternity.
Young was appointed to serve as pastor of a church in Marion
Marion, Alabama
Marion is the county seat of Perry County, Alabama. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 3,511. First called Muckle Ridge, the city was renamed after a hero of the American Revolution, Francis Marion.-Geography:...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. It was there in Marion that he met Jean Childs, who later became his wife. Also while in Marion, Young began to study the writings of Mohandas Gandhi. Young became interested in Gandhi's concept of non-violent resistance as a tactic for social change. He encouraged African-Americans to register to vote in Alabama, and sometimes faced death threats while doing so. He became a friend and ally of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at this time.
In 1957, Young and Jean moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to accept a job with the Youth Division of the National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
. While in New York, Young regularly appeared on Look Up and Live, a weekly Sunday morning television program on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, produced by the National Council of Churches in an effort to reach out to secular youth.
Young also travelled to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
for meetings of the World Council of Churches around the United States.
However, as the Civil Rights Movement
African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
The African-American Civil Rights Movement refers to the movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring voting rights to them. This article covers the phase of the movement between 1955 and 1968, particularly in the South...
gained momentum, Young decided that his place was back in the South. He and Jean moved to Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
in 1961, and again worked on drives to register black voters. In 1960 he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
. Young was jailed for his participation in civil rights demonstrations, both in Selma
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, and in St. Augustine, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Young played a key role in the events in Birmingham, Alabama, serving as a mediator between the white and black communities. In 1964 Young was named executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
(SCLC), becoming, in that capacity, one of Dr. King's principal lieutenants. As a colleague and friend to Martin Luther King Jr. he was a strategist and negotiator during the Civil Rights Campaigns in Birmingham (1963), St. Augustine (1964), Selma (1965), and Atlanta (1966) that resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. He was with King in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, when King was assassinated in 1968.
Career in Congress
In 1970 Andrew Young ran as a DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
for Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
from Georgia, but was unsuccessful. After his defeat, Rev. Fred C. Bennette, Jr., introduced him to Murray M. Silver, Esq., Atlanta, Georgia, Attorney, who served as his campaign finance chairman, promoted concerts featuring top entertainers including Harry Belafonte and Bill Withers. He ran again in 1972 and won. He later was re-elected in 1974 and in 1976. During his four-plus years in Congress he was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus
Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks, and its chair in the 112th Congress is Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.-Aims:...
, and he was involved in several debates regarding foreign relations including the decision to stop supporting the Portuguese attempts to hold on to their colonies in southern Africa. Young also sat on the powerful Rules committee and the Banking and Urban Development committee. Young opposed the Vietnam War, helped enact legislation that established a U.S. Institute for peace, established the Chattahoochee River National Park and negotiated federal funds for MARTA and the Atlanta Highways.
UN Ambassador
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
appointed Young to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador...
(Young was replaced in Congress by Wyche Fowler
Wyche Fowler
William Wyche Fowler, Jr. is an American politician and ambassador. He is a member of the Democratic Party and served as U.S. Senator from Georgia from January 1987 to January 1993. He had previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1977 until his senatorial election.-Early life...
after a special election). Young became the first African-American to serve in the position. Young's controversial statements made headlines almost from the start. In August 1979, he appeared on the television show Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
and said that Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
was "stubborn and intransigent."
As UN Ambassador, Young played a leading role in advancing a settlement in Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
with Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
and Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was the leader and founder of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and a member of the Kalanga tribe...
, who had been two of the military leaders in the Rhodesian Bush War
Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War – also known as the Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe War of Liberation – was a civil war which took place between July 1964 and December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia...
, which had ended in 1979. The settlement paved the way for Mugabe to take power as Prime Minister of the newly-formed Republic of Zimbabwe. There had been a general election in 1979
Zimbabwe Rhodesia general election, 1979
The Zimbabwe Rhodesia general election of April 1979 was held under the internal settlement negotiated by the Rhodesian Front government of Ian Smith intended to provide a peaceful transition to majority rule on terms not harmful to Rhodesians of European descent...
, bringing Bishop Abel Muzorewa
Abel Muzorewa
Bishop Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement to the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979...
to power as leader of the United African National Council
United African National Council
The United African National Council is a political party in Zimbabwe.In 1979, led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the UANC Party held formal power in Zimbabwe during the short-lived period of the Internal Settlement...
leading to the short-lived country of Zimbabwe Rhodesia
Zimbabwe Rhodesia
Zimbabwe Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, was an unrecognized state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 12 December 1979...
. Young refused to accept the election's results, and described the election as "neofascist", a sentiment echoed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 445
United Nations Security Council Resolution 445
United Nations Security Council Resolution 445, adopted on March 8, 1979, after recalling resolutions 253 , 403 , 411 , 423 , 424 and 437 , and hearing representations from various countries, the Council expressed its concern about the military operations undertaken by the "illegal regime" against...
and 448
United Nations Security Council Resolution 448
United Nations Security Council Resolution 448, adopted on April 30, 1979, after recalling resolutions 253 , 403 , 411 , 423 , 424 , 437 and 445 , the Council declared that the recent "sham" elections held in Southern Rhodesia by the "illegal racist regime" were illegal and the results thereof...
. Writing in Commentary
Commentary (magazine)
Commentary is a monthly American magazine on politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues. It was founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945. By 1960 its editor was Norman Podhoretz, a liberal at the time who moved sharply to the right in the 1970s and 1980s becoming a strong voice for the...
at the time, civil-rights leader Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
argued that the elections were "free and fair", not held "with a gun at [the] heads" of the people. The situation was resolved the next year with the Lancaster House Agreement
Lancaster House Agreement
The negotiations which led to the Lancaster House Agreement brought independence to Rhodesia following Ian Smith’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965. The Agreement covered the Independence Constitution, pre-independence arrangements, and a ceasefire...
and the establishment of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
.
In 2005, Gabriel Shumba, executive director of the anti-Mugabe Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, said:
Young's UN ambassadorship ended in August 1979, after Young met secretly, apparently in violation of American policy, with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
. Jimmy Carter denied any complicity in what was called the "Andy Young Affair", and asked Young to resign. Asked about the incident by Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
soon afterward, Young stated, ""It is very difficult to do the things that I think are in the interest of the country and maintain the standards of protocol and diplomacy... I really don't feel a bit sorry for anything that I have done."
Young spent the next two years as a private citizen, as head of his consulting firm, "Young Ideas".
Atlanta mayor
In 1981, after being urged by a number of people, including Coretta Scott KingCoretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. The widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King helped lead the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.Mrs...
, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., Young ran for mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Atlanta. He was elected later that year with 55% of the vote, succeeding Maynard Jackson
Maynard Jackson
Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. was an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and the first African American mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. He served three terms, two consecutive terms from 1974 until 1982 and a third term from 1990 to 1994...
. As mayor of Atlanta, he brought in $70 billion of new private investment. He continued and expanded Maynard Jackson's programs for including minority and female-owned businesses in all city contracts. The Mayor's Task Force on Education established the Dream Jamboree College Fair that tripled the college scholarships given to Atlanta public school graduates. In 1985, he was involved in privatizing the Atlanta Zoo, which was renamed Zoo Atlanta
Zoo Atlanta
Zoo Atlanta is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums accredited zoological park in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1889, the Zoo is Atlanta’s oldest cultural destination and is one of the oldest continuously operating zoological institutions in the United States.Zoo Atlanta houses over 1,300 animals...
. The then-moribund zoo was overhauled, making ecological habitats specific to different animals.
Young was re-elected as Mayor in 1985 with more than 80% of the vote. Atlanta hosted the 1988 Democratic National Convention
1988 Democratic National Convention
The 1988 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia from July 18–July 21, 1988 to select a candidate for the 1988 United States presidential election. At the convention Gov. Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts was nominated for President and...
during Young's tenure. He was prohibited by term limits from running for a third term.
Post-mayoral career
Young ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Georgia in 1990, losing in the DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
primary run-off to future Governor Zell Miller
Zell Miller
Zell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the US state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
. However, while running for the Statehouse, he simultaneously was serving as a co-chairman of a committee which, at the time, was attempting to bring the 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
to Atlanta. Young played a significant role in the success of Atlanta's bid to host the Summer Games.
In October 1994, then-U.S. president Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, along with then-president of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, established the Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund (SAEDF), and named Young as its Chairman. The fund was established to provide funding to help small- and medium-size indigenous businesses throughout southern Africa.
In 1996, Young wrote A Way Out of No Way: The Spiritual Memoirs of Andrew Young, published by Thomas Nelson.
In 1996, Young and Carlton Masters co-founded GoodWorks International, a consulting firm "offering international market access and political risk analysis in key emerging markets within Africa and the Caribbean." The company's Web site also notes that "GWI principals have backgrounds in human rights and public service. The concept of enhancing the greater good is intrinsic to our business endeavors." Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
is one of GoodWorks' most visible corporate clients. In the late 1990s, at the height of controversy over the company's labor practices, Young led a delegation to report on Nike operations in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Anti-sweatshop
Sweatshop
Sweatshop is a negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may be violated. Sweatshops may have...
activists derided the report as a whitewash and raised concerns that Nike was trading on Young's background as a civil-rights activist to improve Nike's corporate image.
Young also has been a director of the Drum Major Institute
Drum Major Institute
The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy is a non-profit American progressive public policy institute founded during the Civil Rights Movement...
for Public Policy, and also is the chairman of the board for the Global Initiative for the Advancement of Nutritional Therapy.
From 2000 to 2001, Young served as president of the National Council of Churches.
In 2003, Young founded the Andrew Young Foundation, an organization meant to support and promote education, health, leadership and human rights in the United States, Africa and the Caribbean.
In 2004 Young briefly considered running for U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Georgia after the incumbent, Zell Miller
Zell Miller
Zell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the US state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
, announced his retirement, but decided not to re-enter public life.
In 2005, to honor the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....
of 1965, Young, William Wachtel and Norman Ornstein founded Why Tuesday?
Why Tuesday?
Why Tuesday? is a nonpartisan election reform organization. Their goal is to increase voter participation in the United States by creating a dialogue about election reform. The group publishes a weekly documentary video blog in order to highlight the state of America's voting systems.Members of the...
, a nonpartisan group dedicated to increasing voter participation by moving the national voting day from Tuesday to the weekend.
From February to August 2006, Young served as the public spokesman for Working Families for Wal-Mart
Working Families for Wal-Mart
Working Families for Walmart is an advocacy group formed by Walmart and the Edelman public relations firm on December 20, 2005. It has been used to praise Wal-Mart in a show of opposition to union-funded groups such as Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch. The group is financially supported by...
, an advocacy group for the retail chain Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
. Young resigned from the position soon after a controversial interview with the Los Angeles Sentinel
Los Angeles Sentinel
The Los Angeles Sentinel is a weekly African American-owned newspaper published in Los Angeles, California. The paper boasts of reaching 125,000 readers , making it the oldest, largest and most influential African-American newspaper in the Western United States.The Sentinel was founded and first...
, in which, when asked about Wal-Mart hurting independent business
Independent business
In business, an independent business as a term of distinction generally refers to privately owned companies . Independent businesses most commonly take the form of sole-proprietorships...
es, he replied, "You see those are the people who have been overcharging us, and they sold out and moved to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. I think they’ve ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it’s Arabs."
In 2007, the Andrew Young Foundation produced the documentary film Rwanda Rising, about Rwanda's progress since the Rwandan genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
of 1994. Young also served as the film's narrator. Rwanda Rising premiered as the opening night selection at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2007.
An edited version of Rwanda Rising served as the pilot episode of Andrew Young Presents, a series of quarterly, hour long specials airing on nationally syndicated television.
On January 22, 2008, Young appeared as a guest on the television show The Colbert Report. Host Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
invited Young to appear during the writer's strike, because, many years earlier, Young and Colbert's father had worked together, but on opposite sides, to mediate a Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, hospital workers' strike.
Young made another appearance on The Colbert Report on November 5, 2008, to talk about the election of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
to the presidency.
Personal life and family
Young had four children with his first wife, Jean Childs, who died of cancer in 1994. He married his second wife, Carolyn McClain, in 1995.Young himself was diagnosed with prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
in September 1999, which was successfully removed with surgery in January 2000.
Books
- An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America. (Jan 1998)
- A Way Out of No Way. (June 1996)
- Andrew Young at the United Nations. (Jan 1978)
- Andrew Young, Remembrance & Homage. (Jan 1978)
- The History of the Civil Rights Movement. (9 volumes) (Sept 1990)
- Trespassing Ghost: A Critical Study of Andrew Young. (Jan 1978)
- Walk in My Shoes: Conversations between a Civil Rights Legend and his Godson on the Journey Ahead with Kabir Sehgal. (May 2010) ISBN 978-0230623606
Awards and honors
- Presidential Medal of FreedomPresidential Medal of FreedomThe Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
- France's Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
- The NAACP Springarn Medal
- More than 45 honorary degrees including awards from DartmouthDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, YaleYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Notre DameUniversity of Notre DameThe University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, Clark AtlantaClark Atlanta UniversityClark Atlanta University is a private, historically black university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University...
, EmoryEmory UniversityEmory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
, and the University of GeorgiaUniversity of GeorgiaThe University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
. - 1995 Eagle Award from the United States Sports AcademyUnited States Sports AcademyThe United States Sports Academy is an accredited, sport-specific institution located in Daphne, Alabama. It offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs as well as certificate programs. Founded in 1972, the Academy has provided its sports programs to more than 60 countries around the...
. The Eagle Award is the Academy's highest honor and was awarded to Young for his significant contribution to international sport. - Honorary Co-Chair of the World Justice ProjectWorld Justice Project-Mainstreaming:The World Justice Project holds action-oriented meetings with leaders from a range of fields to mainstream rule of law advancement and make strengthening the rule of law as fundamental to the thinking and work of all professionals as it is to lawyers...
. - The 2011 Lifetime Achievement Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
, for his involvement on Look Up and Live.
Places named after Andrew Young
- The Andrew Young School of Policy StudiesAndrew Young School of Policy StudiesThe Andrew Young School of Policy Studies is located within Georgia State University. The school houses the Criminal Justice, Economics, Social Work and Public Management and Policy divisions of the second largest school in the state of Georgia.In 2008, U.S...
at Georgia State UniversityGeorgia State UniversityGeorgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...
in Atlanta, formerly the Georgia State University School of Policy Studies, was renamed after Young in 1999. - International Boulevard, near Centennial Olympic ParkCentennial Olympic ParkCentennial Olympic Park is a 21 acre public park located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA that is owned and operated by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. The park was built by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games as part of the infrastructure improvements for the Centennial...
, was re-named Andrew Young International Boulevard, in honor of his involvement in bringing the 1996 Summer Olympics1996 Summer OlympicsThe 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
to Atlanta. - The Andrew Young Center for International Affairs at Morehouse CollegeMorehouse CollegeMorehouse College is a private, all-male, liberal arts, historically black college located in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Wabash College, Morehouse is one of three remaining traditional men's colleges in the United States....
was named after Young. - The Andrew and Walter Young YMCA, the only full service YMCAYMCAThe Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
operating in Southwest Atlanta, is named after Young and his younger brother.
External links
- Biography in the New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Andrew Young Global Health Institute, a project of the Global Initiative for the Advancement of Nutritional Therapy
- Oral History Interview with Andrew Young from Oral Histories of the American South
- Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
- Andy Young's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
- Good Works International, founder
- Andrew Young's federal campaign contribution report