Andrew Young to Speak at Duke for 2007 MLK Commemoration

Ambassador Andrew Young, a civil rights leader and confidant of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., will speak at Duke University on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2007, as part of the university's 18th annual commemoration of King.

Young will give the keynote address during a program in Duke Chapel, which begins at 3 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

During the civil rights movement, Young served as executive vice president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference while King was the group's president. Young helped organize voter registration drives and was jailed twice for participating in demonstrations. He was with King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis when King was assassinated.

Young went on to become Georgia's first African-American congressman since Reconstruction, twice winning re-election. He was appointed ambassador to the United Nations by President Jimmy Carter, who awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981. He was twice elected mayor of Atlanta and served as co-chairman of the city's committee for the 1996 Olympic Games.

Currently, Young is chairman of the consulting firm GoodWorks International and co-chair of the Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, as well as being a board member for many other businesses and charities.

Parking for the Jan. 14 event will be available in the Bryan Center parking garage. Directions are available online.

Duke's King Commemoration Committee this year is co-chaired by the Rev. William Turner Jr., an associate professor in Duke Divinity School, and Ben Reese, Duke's vice president for institutional equity.

"From among those who worked and walked with King, there is hardly one person living who was closer than Andrew Young," Turner said. "From the red clay hills of Georgia to the infamous bridge in Alabama to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Andy was by King's side."

Added Reese, "Ambassador Young's historical connection to Dr. King and his continuing adherence to the values of social justice and equity serve as a model for so many of us who continue the work of Dr. King."

The theme for this year's program is "Come to the Table," which emphasizes King's vision of reconciliation among opposing groups in America and the world.

"Who could be better to call us once again to ‘Come to the Table' in 2007?" Turner said. "Andrew Young has reached out the hand of fellowship, invested his energy, put his life on the line, and cried out for justice for more than 40 years."

Events for the 2007 King commemoration run Jan. 12-22 and are free and open to the public. They include:

-- A series of "Freedom School" discussions on contemporary social issues, led by Duke professors and students as well as invited speakers, from 11 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15, in the Bryan Center. The discussions are inspired by the Freedom Schools organized during the civil rights movement.

-- A performance by Durham's Walltown Children's Theatre of the original play "Waiting for Martin" at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15, in the Bryan Center's Reynolds Theater.

-- The Million Meals Service Event to package dried foods for distribution to people facing starvation. The volunteer project takes place at North Carolina Central University, 2-10 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17, and is co-sponsored by North Carolina Central University, Duke, Stop Hunger Now and the Durham Rotary Club.

For details and an updated calendar of events, call (919) 684-8030 or visit the 2007 commemoration website.