Actor / Director Profile

Andrew Young is a prominent civil rights leader and politician. He first became a minister within the United Churches of Christ in the 1950s. Early in his career he studied Gandhi's methods of nonviolent resistance. Young became involved in voter registration drives within the civil rights movement. He became an assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King early in King's career. Young gained a reputation as a negotiator and a strategist. At the time of King's death in 1968, Young had become the executive director of King's organization (the SCLC).In the early 1970s Young was elected to Congress, representing the region of Atlanta, Georgia. During the administration of President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s, Young was appointed to be the U.S Ambassador to the United Nations. In the 1980s he was elected to two terms as Mayor of Atlanta. In the 1990s Young was instrumental in bringing the Olympic Games to Atlanta. In the 2000s Young served as the president of the National Council of Churches, and as co-chair of GoodWorks International.