Andrew Young was born to a middle class family in New Orleans, Louisiana--the Jim Crow South. He studied theology and became a minister of the United Church of Christ, pastoring in small churches before moving to New York City in 1957.

In 1961 he went to Atlanta, Georgia to work for Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He was on the front line for desegregation throughout the United States.

Young has since gone on to become one of the most renowned Black politicans of our time. He was the first Black since Reconstruction to represent a southern district in Congress. He was the first Black American delegate in the United Nations, and has served as the Ambassador to the United Nations. He was twice elected the mayor of Atlanta. He was also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian award.