Photo credit: Photo by Megan Morr

Durham, NC - The civil rights anthem, "We shall overcome," still is relevant to a new generation combatting global problems of poverty and inequality in the 21^st century, the Rev. Andrew Young told a near-capacity crowd at Duke Chapel Sunday.

"We are part of a generation that believes we can change the world, and never in human history has there been the commitment, the resources, the courage, the money and the technology to make our dreams come true. And so we shall overcome. Not someday, but we can overcome today. It's your decision," he said.

He urged those affiliated with Duke to use their "education, research and involvement" to help solve the world's problems.

Young, one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s top aides, was the keynote speaker at Duke's Martin Luther King Day service of celebration. Other events celebrating King's life continue this week.

During the Civil Rights movement, Young helped organize voter registration drives and was jailed twice. He become Georgia's first African-American congressman since Reconstruction and was appointed ambassador to the United Nations. He was twice elected mayor of Atlanta and currently is chairman of the consulting firm GoodWorks International and co-chair of the Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation.

Although Young said the Civil Rights movement's success in breaking down the legal barriers to equality in the 1960s exposed new problems, forcing activists to take global action against racism, poverty and war.

"In 1960, we could focus on the problem of human rights in the South," he said. But quickly those issues expanded to include human rights in the Soviet Union, South Africa, Latin America and China. "Almost every issue that bothered us suddenly became global, and we could no longer deny it.

"We find ourselves in a much more complex time. That's why your education, your research, your involvement in an institution like this is of even more significance. Because we have to solve these problems, not only for ourselves, but for the entire planet."

King never promised to end those ills, Young said, but instead wanted to break down the barriers that make "one group artificially superior and one group artificially inferior."

"And when we break down those barriers, we can come together as brothers and sisters," Young said.

Young said his commitment to racial equality and non-violence began during his childhood in multi-ethnic 1930s New Orleans, where he heard cries of "Heil Hitler!" just a few yards from his home. Conversations around the dinner table focused on concerns about racism and genocide, he said.

His father took him to a segregated movie theater to see Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics and told him the best way to fight white supremacy was to prove it is irrelevant.

"It's a sickness," Young said his father told him, "And you don't get angry with sick people -- you help them."

His father's teaching was the foundation for Young's interest in King's Gandhi-inspired philosophy of non-violent change -- though Young said he initially didn't think it was possible in the United States.

"I frankly did not feel it would work here," he said. "It was a little too idealistic. And yet I was proved wrong. Non-violence will work here on any and every issue, and it will work everywhere. And unless you believe in that possibility, you are doomed to a life of cynicism and frustration."

Before Young's talk, Duke President Richard H. Brodhead and Dr. Victor Dzau, chancellor of health affairs, both spoke of the responsibility to work for change.

"It is our business to make a difference, and it is within our power to make a difference," Brodhead said.

In his comments, Durham Mayor Bill Bell spoke of "the lacrosse incident," and praised Brodhead's leadership. "In my opinion as mayor of this city, he has made the right decisions at the right time given the information that was provided."