Although he had a knack for humor, Martin Luther King Jr. struggled every day with death, which helped him do what was right, according to Andrew Young, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Young, 80, who spoke to a crowd of about 800 at the LBJ Presidential Library on Thursday night, shared personal stories about the civil rights leader along with his admiration of President Lyndon Johnson and what he believes are the biggest national and global issues today.
In 1972, Young won a U.S. congressional seat in Georgia, and he was re-elected for two more terms. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Young to serve as the ambassador to the U.N.
Young, however, started his political career in the civil rights movement. He became the executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1964 and was one of King’s top aides and friends. He was with King in Memphis, Tenn., when King was assassinated in 1968.
Everywhere he went, King was almost willing to be sacrificed, Young said.
A scar — in the shape of the cross — that King acquired because of a stabbing in Harlem in 1958 was a constant reminder that death meant doing what is right while alive, Young said.
“Some things in life are well worth dying for,” he said.
King’s rhetoric would also influence Johnson, who Young said helped not only black people, but anyone living in poverty.
Young said that the only time he saw King cry was when Johnson punctuated his 1965 speech on voting rights with “we shall overcome” — a line borrowed from civil rights leaders.
While Young focused on his early political career and his heroes, he also spoke about female trafficking, including for sex and child marriage, calling it a large global problem.
He also addressed the lack of bipartisanship in Washington, which he said has hurt the progress of the nation.
He said the solution to a sluggish national economy is for the government to use underutilized resources and invest money back into the U.S. He cited the $70 billion and 1,100 companies that Young said he brought into the Atlanta area as mayor in the early 1980s.
“There is no safer place to put your money than in the middle of the U.S.,” he said.
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