This week I speak with legendary Civil Rights activist, author, pastor, politician, and diplomat Rev. Andrew Young to mark Dr. King's holiday.

Born in 1932, Andrew Young was Dr. King’s right-hand man, his number one lieutenant, who was later elected to Congress, named Ambassador to the United Nations by President Carter, and then elected Mayor of Atlanta for 2 terms, when he brought the Olympics to Atlanta. It is hard to describe all that he has done; Rachel Maddow recently made a two-hour documentary about his life work for justice and civil rights. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, Carolyn, and is the father of 3 daughters and one son, a grandfather of 9 and a great grandfather of two.

We spoke mainly about Dr. King and his experiences organizing the Civil Rights Movement.

“What I learned from Martin King is what he learned from his parents and grandparents: it's all about the history of a people. We are constantly reminded of visions for a way out of no way. In moments of despair, I still sing songs.”

Rev. Young was also King's advisor in Birmingham, St. Augustine, Selma and Atlanta during the Civil Rights Campaigns in the 60's. The movement gained congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. Young was with Dr. King in Memphis, Tennessee, when King was assassinated in 1968.

“Here it is two thousand years later,” he said, “and what Jesus taught is still relevant and powerfully important for us as we deal with the day to day crises in our lives.”

As he reminisced about the Birmingham Campaign, he recalled the day Fred Shuttlesworth came to him and Dr. King, told them his house had just been bombed, and asked King to come to Birmingham. “We need to make nonviolence more aggressive,” Dr. King said, “so we need to build a nonviolent movement.” Contrary to today, he said, “It wasn’t a time of despair or depression.”

He shares with us where he first learned about nonviolence, and what he learned from Dr. King himself. He shares many of his personal experiences with him, recounting the harrowing trip when Dr. King was arrested and taken to Reidsville Prison: "He wanted to be a pastor, he had already been jailed, stabbed, his home had been bombed, Reidsville was an attempt to scare the hell out of him."

His books include:

An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America. (January 1998);
A Way Out of No Way. (June 1996);
Andrew Young at the United Nations. (January 1978);
Andrew Young, Remembrance & Homage. (January 1978);
The History of the Civil Rights Movement. (9 volumes) (September 1990);
Trespassing Ghost: A Critical Study of Andrew Young. (January 1978);
Walk in My Shoes: Conversations between a Civil Rights Legend and his Godson on the Journey Ahead with Kabir Sehgal. (May 2010)

Listen in to this elder as he shares his Dr. King stories and be inspired to go forward on the way of nonviolence, resistance, and creative peacemaking.

For more podcasts, zooms and books on nonviolence, go to beatitudescenter.org

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