Young, Andrew

Young, Andrew

 in full Andrew Jackson Young, Jr.

(born March 12, 1932, New Orleans, La., U.S.) U.S. politician. He earned a divinity degree in 1955 and became a pastor at several African American churches in the South. Active in the civil rights movement, he worked with Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ralph Abernathy in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1961–70). He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1972–77). An early supporter of Jimmy Carter, he was appointed U.S. ambassador to the UN (1977–79), the first African American to hold the post. He served as mayor of Atlanta (1982–90).