Andrew Young shares lessons for turbulent times

ATLANTA — At 93, Ambassador Andrew Young has seen the world go through more seasons of change than most could imagine.

Inside the Atlanta History Center, the story of his extraordinary life unfolds in display cases and photographs. Young’s days alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his service in Congress, his years as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and his two terms as mayor of Atlanta.

Each chapter reflects a man who spent his life seeking peace and who still deeply believes in the promise of progress.

“We’ve come a long way,” Young said in an interview with 11Alive News anchor Cheryl Preheim. “And we’re going through a tough time now. But I have no worries for the country, or the economy, or even the president.”

Born in New Orleans in 1932, Andrew Jackson Young Jr. became one of the country’s most influential civil rights leaders. As MLK Jr.’s top aide and executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he helped organize voter registration drives, marches and negotiations that reshaped America’s social fabric.

In 1972, Young made history as the first black Georgian elected to Congress since Reconstruction, representing Atlanta in the United States House of Representatives. President Jimmy Carter later appointed him U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, where Young became a global advocate for human rights and diplomacy.

Back home, as Atlanta’s 55th mayor from 1982 to 1990, Young led the city through a period of explosive growth and international exposure, including its successful bid for the 1996 Olympic Games.

During his decades of public service, Young says he has learned that democracy – like peace – is never guaranteed, but is always worth working for.

“It’s fragile,” he said. “It’s dynamic, it’s flexible. But we’ve been through so much.”

Young remembers being a little boy during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He cites tensions in the Middle East and during the civil rights movement as clear memories he revisits.

“We’ve had some dark times,” he said. “Dr. King Quote: ‘The truth crushed on Earth will rise again.’ And we live by that. And we can pass this on to our children. Although it seems difficult now. There are better days, and of course, even if things are bad, I don’t see them as bad.“

Despite today’s political divisions, Young insists he still sees more reason to believe than to fear.

“You can focus on problems as they arise, or on solutions that might arise in the future,” he explained. “And right now I’m trying to be – it’s not optimism, it’s visionary to believe that, as complex and as painful as it has been, we’re going to see solutions before long.”

For him, solutions that promote peace are the most appropriate.

For Young, hope has always been personal. He often returns to the advice his father gave him as a child – wisdom that later shaped his approach to nonviolence.

“My dad used to tell me, ‘Don’t get angry. When you’re angry, your mind shuts down and your blood runs into your fists and feet – and you either want to fight or run away,'” Young said. “He said, if you stay calm, your mind is the most powerful weapon you have and your mind and spirit can help you solve any problem.”

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That same mindset helped Young get through some of the movement’s most volatile moments, and he says it’s still true today. When asked to share a lesson he learned during the civil rights movement that should be passed down, he chuckled to himself.

“Don’t get angry, be smart,” he said with a smile. “Dr. King used to say that enslaved black men and women had more faith than the prophets. When I become discouraged and think my work is in vain, then comes the Holy Spirit who revives my soul.”

When asked what he hoped younger generations would take away from his legacy, Young didn’t hesitate.

“I just hope,” he said. “Never get discouraged. You can’t live in chaos. And peace, prosperity, health and sanity – these are things that come together when we allow our best to move forward.”

Even after nearly a century of witnessing the world’s darkest and brightest moments, Young says he remains grounded in faith and focused on the possibilities that lie ahead.

“We have gone too far from where we started,” he said. “And no one ever told us the path would be easy, but I don’t believe He brought us this far to leave us.”