Young, Andrew, Jr.

Young, Andrew (Jackson), Jr. (1932–  ) civil rights activist, Protestant minister, public official; born in New Orleans, La. As a minister, he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1960 and came to be one of the closest associates of Martin Luther King Jr.; as the SCLC's executive director (1964–70), he took an active role in working at desegregation. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (Dem., Ga.; 1973–77), he was the first African-American to represent Georgia in Congress since 1871. In 1977 he resigned from Congress to accept an appointment from President Carter as U.S. Representative to the United Nations; he was forced to resign in 1979 after it was revealed that he had met secretly with members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. He served as mayor of Atlanta, Ga. (1981–89) and continued to be an exponent of moderation and reform within the African-American community.