For nearly 70 years, Andrew Young has played multiple crucial roles in American public life from preacher to civil rights leader, congressman, U.S. Ambassador to Mayor of Atlanta. Since he was a young man, he was also one of Rev. Martin Luther King’s closest friends and aides and had his hands on the pulse of Civil and Global Human Rights.

On the cusp of turning 90 on March 12, in a phone interview with BET.com, he spoke about his life and what he has learned.

BET.com: You’ve had quite a life. As you look back on 90 years, what are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned?

Ambassador Andrew Young: That all things are possible. If you only believe you believe in God, you believe in yourself, and you think that you have an understanding of what the world needs and that you're in a position to contribute to it.

BET.com: When you met Dr. King and so many other luminaries, were there also experiences with them that showed you this as well?

Young: Yes, there were. But remember, when I met Dr. King, he wasn't necessarily a luminary; he was 27 years old and I was 25.  I think of our whole career… I call it an accident of God's will. And then I hasten to say that accidents are God's way of remaining anonymous.

BET.com: But I guess when you met, you had no idea what was ahead of you?

Young: No, because I was pastoring a little church with about 50 members. He had a bigger church in Montgomery. But he was already the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association and had achieved a victory with the Montgomery Bus Boycott. So he was pretty much established, yet he knew he was on a dangerous road.

BET.com: The last time we spoke, it was more than a decade ago, and you told me what it was like that April day when we lost Dr. King. Now the country has gone through a lot since then. Do you feel like we’re becoming more divided?

Young: No, I think we’re becoming more aware of the divisions. But I also think that Dr. King is more present today than he was ten years ago, that his spirit did not abandon us, that more people know about him, understand him and appreciate him in 2020, than did in 1968 when he was killed. And that's been my faith that he really did not die, that his spirit was released from his flesh. And more kids know about him now than knew about him when he was alive.

BET.com: ​​Now we have civil rights issues today, not unlike when you were young, you know, voting rights, police violence, education jobs, and a new generation is completing them. Should they approach it the same way your generation did?

Young: If they’ve got good sense, they should (laughs). My daddy told me when I was four years old, if you lose your temper in a fight and get mad, you’re gonna get whipped. And he started telling me, don’t get mad, get smart. When you have troubles – and you're gonna have troubles – don't get angry because when you're angry that blood rushes from your head to your feet, and you're liable to do something stupid.

He said, If you stay calm and let your mind function, your mind will lead you through more things than your fists and feet can fight or run you out of, and I found that to be true. I've been tested in a whole lot of ways. Sometimes it's politics. Sometimes it's in a mob. Sometimes it's in a demonstration. Sometimes it's sitting in a meeting with a bunch of diplomats that you know, are wrong and crazy and they're trying to provoke you. And you learn to be cool.

BET.com: When we approach topics like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or Ahmaud Arbery, who should lead the movement? Should activists lead? Should politicians lead? At this point, should the movement be grassroots or does it belong in congress or the White House?

Young: All of the above (laughs). I mean, we had no choice. George Floyd was killed and for nine minutes and 21 seconds, the whole world had to look at him die, so his death created a mass movement. And it did a lot of things that we still don't understand and don't know about. But the difference between now and when we were activists is basically cell phones. Remember, Martin Luther King didn't have a phone. The main difference between our movement in the 60s and presently, is that the next morning, there were demonstrations in New Zealand about George Floyd’s death. Because they had seen the same nine minutes and 21 seconds that you and I saw.

But if that young lady hadn’t had that cellphone and thought to use it wisely, that might not have happened. There was nobody around when Emmett Till was killed. There was nobody around much (pauses) but us when Martin Luther King was killed. There was that one picture of us pointing that was taken by a reporter from South Africa (Joseph Louw), who was staying there at the hotel, and he ran back in and got his camera and took that picture.

[A brief pause in the interview to allow Ambassador Young to collect himself from such a traumatic memory before moving on]

BET.com: Some dynamic people of color are running for some critical offices. Stacey Abrams comes to mind, but there are many others. So does having more Black politicians in these vital roles have the same impact as it did when you were mayor of Atlanta?

Young: It’s not the politician in the role, it's the brains and the heart and the energy of the politician. Stacey is one that will make a difference. There's no question about that. (Sen. Raphael) Warnock is one that makes a difference.  I was a preacher, basically, and it was under the fear of the Lord if I hadn't done things right. (Former Atlanta mayor) Maynard Jackson was that way, and we were dedicated. There was no such thing as an eight-hour day. I worked 18 hours a day, sometimes 20.

BET.com: Maynard Jackson and many Black mayors that came through in that time changed the landscape. Did you all see yourselves as changing things for the better, or were you just working those hard hours just moving through and you didn’t even notice?

Young: We knew we were changing the world. But we were motivated because we all knew Martin Luther King and realized that he had given his life for us to have the opportunity that we had, and we couldn't mess it up.

RELATED: Former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young Compares Russian Leader Vladimir Putin To Donald Trump

BET.com: I want to switch to the international stage. You were U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President Carter. What has changed about America’s global outlook since you were in that position?

Young: Not much, really, because that was after the Second World War. The Second World War led America to have a global outlook. My global perspective came through the church. And in the Black churches that I went to and the Black schools that I went to, I met students from Africa, Latin America, Jamaica, Panama,  and I learned to see things from a global perspective. When you see things from a global perspective, you realize you have to do things a little different than your parents did.

BET.com: ​​Going back to domestic issues, Dr. King was beginning to move forward with the Poor People’s Campaign at the end of his life.  Do you think it's now time for a new Poor People's Campaign? And who might be best suited to push it ahead?

Young: Well, all of us are pushing ahead on that. It's not a problem; it's an opportunity. Democracy doesn't work unless it works for the least of these God's children. And all my time in Congress. And all my time here, I was trying to figure out how to help poor people have as much education and as much good health care and as much to eat as rich people. That's a challenge, but everybody's got to have a better chance. America probably comes closer to delivering that fair chance than any other country.

But it's not easy and we've got a 400-year heritage of slavery that's dragging us back. Some people still think they're supposed to be in charge because of the color of their skin. Right now, the biggest danger that I see is that the Republican Party has opted out of democracy, that they just want to say no because they want to take charge. They have written new state laws to make it difficult for democracy to work. It's going to be very difficult for all of us if we lose the Congress in this midterm election and because the Republicans have doctored the voting laws.

So we have to, we have to do our part because we've been on the bottom so long, we're going to always be expected to do more than our share. But we're not in this alone. Democracy is something that everybody has to devote themselves to.


Multiple events surround Amb. Young’s birthday celebration, including the 2022 Millenium Candler Prize Ceremony, the opening of a 90 Day Exhibit both at Millennium Gate Museum in Atlanta; a 90th birthday celebration at the Georgia World Congress Center and the release of the biography of his life, The Many Lives of Andrew Young, available on Amazon March 29. For more information, visit www.andrewyoung90.com.

This article has been edited and condensed for clarity.