Andrew Jackson Young Jr. (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and as a close confidant to Martin Luther King Jr. A member of the Democratic Party, Young later became active in politics, serving as a U.S. Congressman from Georgia, United States Ambassador to the United Nations in the Carter Administration, and 55th Mayor of Atlanta. He was the first African American elected to Congress from Georgia since Reconstruction, as well as one of the first two African Americans elected to Congress from the former Confederacy since Reconstruction. Since leaving office, Young has founded or served in many organizations working on issues of public policy and political lobbying.

Early life

Andrew Young was born on March 12, 1932, in New Orleans, to Daisy Young, a schoolteacher, and Andrew Jackson Young, a dentist. Young's father hired a professional boxer to teach Andrew and his brother to defend themselves. In a 1964 interview with author Robert Penn Warren for his book, Who Speaks for the Negro?, Young recalls the tensions of segregation in New Orleans, especially growing up in a fairly well-to-do household. He recalls his parents trying to "compensate for segregation" by providing for their children but were reluctant to help less wealthy black communities in the area. He then earned a divinity degree from Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1955. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

In 1957, Young and Jean moved to New York City when he accepted a job with the Youth Division of the National Council of Churches. While in New York City, 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.

In 1960, he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The survey also saw Young ranked the fifth-best big-city mayor to serve in office post-1960.

1990 Georgia gubernatorial election

After leaving the mayor's office in early 1990, He served as co-chair of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

From 2000 to 2001, Young served as president of the National Council of Churches. After the election, in which Gore lost to George W. Bush, Young spoke at Ebenezer Baptist Church, calling for Bush to not follow the divisiveness of his party and cited Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft as not being qualified "to be attorney general at a time like this."

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.

On January 19, 2015, Young gave the keynote address at Vanderbilt University's Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Day. The theme was "Dismantling Segregation: Race, Poverty, and Privilege", and Young spoke about his experiences in Selma, stories of traveling with King, and his advice to the next generation of leaders.

On May 13, 2019, Young gave the keynote address at Emory University's spring commencement ceremony.

On May 29, 2020, Young remarked on the protests in Atlanta in reaction to the murder of George Floyd. He stated that riots, violence, and looting "hurt the cause instead of helping it".

Young is co-chairman of Rodney Cook Sr. Park along with National Monuments Foundation president Rodney Mims Cook Jr. This peace park is located in the Vine City neighborhood on Atlanta's westside and has a strong civil rights focus.

In 2023, Young launched the "Andrew Young HBCU Scholarship Program" funded by McGraw Hill Education in partnership with the Institute of World Politics Chair of Law and Human Rights, Matthew Daniels and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The scholarship is awarded to students who "demonstrate the vision and leadership potential to be an ambassador for the unifying, non-violent principles of Dr. King and Ambassador Young, rooted in respect for the fundamental dignity, rights, and equality of all human beings." Young also endorsed a companion bible study for those seeking to apply Dr. King's teachings to improving their communities.

Following a reading from the Book of Ephesians, Young delivered the homily at the state funeral service for Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral on January 9, 2025.

On March 1, 2026, Young traveled to South Carolina to speak with University of South Carolina Upstate's Bennie Harris for the monthly Below the Line feature. On March 2, 2026, Young spoke at a private memorial service for Rev. Jesse Jackson at the South Carolina State House in Columbia, South Carolina. On March 22, 2026, Young spoke at the funeral service of civil rights activist Bernard Lafayette, held at Tuskegee University Chapel in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Young criticized the Roberts Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais (2026) for striking down part of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Personal life and family

Young has four children with his first wife, Jean Childs Young, who died of liver cancer in 1994. He married Carolyn McClain in 1996.

In September 1999, Young was diagnosed with prostate cancer which was successfully removed with surgery in January 2000.

  • Legend in Leadership Award, Yale University
  • 1983 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
  • 1995 Eagle Award from the United States Sports Academy. The Eagle Award is the Academy's highest honor and was awarded to Young for his significant contribution to international sport.
  • 1996 Harold Washington Award (Phoenix Award)
  • Honorary Co-Chair of the World Justice Project;
  • 2005 "Louisiana Legend" by Louisiana Public Broadcasting in Baton Rouge, along with timber industrialist Roy O. Martin Jr., comedian Kix Brooks, and the Louisiana State University athletic legends Paul Dietzel and Sue Gunter

Places named after Andrew Young

  • In 1999 Georgia State University in Atlanta renamed its public policy school the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies to honor Young."
  • The Andrew Young Crossing in St. Augustine, FL

Young is played by Howard E. Rollins Jr. in the 1978 television miniseries King.

Young is played by Andre Holland in the 2014 film Selma.

See also

  • List of African-American United States representatives
  • List of civil rights leaders
  • Timeline of Atlanta, 1980s

References

Further reading

  • DeRoche, Andrew J. Andrew Young: Civil Rights Ambassador (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2003).
  • Dorrien, Gary. A Darkly Radiant Vision: The Black Social Gospel in the Shadow of MLK (Yale University Press, 2023)
  • Hornsby Jr., Alton. "Andrew Jackson Young: Mayor of Atlanta, 1982-1990." Journal of Negro History 77.3 (1992): 159–182. online
  • Jones, Barlett C. Flawed Triumphs: Andy Young at the United Nations (1996).
  • Levy, Jessica Ann. "Selling Atlanta: black mayoral politics from protest to entrepreneurism, 1973 to 1990." Journal of Urban History 41.3 (2015): 420–443.
  • Thomson, Alex. "The Diplomacy of Impasse: the Carter Administration and Apartheid South Africa." Diplomacy & Statecraft 21.1 (2010): 107–124.
  • Van Wyk, Anna-Mart, and Jackie Grobler. "The Carter administration and the institution of the 1977 mandatory arms embargo against South Africa: rhetoric or active action?." Historia 51.1 (2006): 163–199. online
  • Biography in the New Georgia Encyclopedia
  • Oral History Interview with Andrew Young from Oral Histories of the American South
  • Andrew Young Biography and Interview on American Academy of Achievement
  • Andy Young's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
  • Who Speaks for the Negro at Vanderbilt documentary website
  • Andrew Young's federal campaign contribution report as of 2007 via newsmeat.com

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