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By Javacia Harris Bowser | The Birmingham Times
Ambassador Andrew J. Young, civil rights leader, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former Mayor of Atlanta, delivered a rousing address at the 20th anniversary gathering of Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT) on Thursday at the historic 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. In his remarks, Young discussed the importance of voting and highlighted Birmingham as the blueprint for social change.
Ambassador Young participated in the gathering at the invitation of CCT’s Historic Black Church Family, one of the five church families that comprise Christian Churches Together.
“Ambassador Andrew Young represents a generation of Christian leadership in which faith was translated into action and was inseparable from justice, peace and human dignity,” said Bishop Don Dixon Williams, President of CCT’s Historic Black Church Family.
Before Young’s address, Williams called the ambassador “living history.” Young’s connection to Birmingham reaches back to the pivotal 1963 Birmingham Campaign, a nonviolent, faith-based campaign against segregation. Young, a leader with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), served as a strategist and negotiator for the movement. On Thursday, he shared stories about how the Birmingham Campaign came together and stated that the campaign proved that faith, nonviolence and negotiation could change a city and ultimately a nation.
“You couldn’t find a better system of social change than the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement of 1963,” Young said. “Nobody else has done it quite that well as you all did it here in Birmingham. Everything that Martin Luther King did from there on was dependent on what happened here in Birmingham. It was a beautiful message.”
And that message, he said, is that there is great power in a group of people coming together, despite differences, to do what is right.
“This is what we need to do,” he said, “sit down together with no anger, no bitterness, and take what we know to be wrong and just agree to make it right.”
Ambassador Andrew J. Young, civil rights leader, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former Mayor of Atlanta, pictured at the historic 16th Street Baptist Church. (Marika N. Johnson, For The Birmingham Times)The 94-year-old delivered his message seated on a scooter, speaking with power and poise and offering words that stirred the crowd.
Young reminded listeners that religious leaders were at the helm of the movement and urged churches to take the lead today in the fight for justice.
“The church has the power to bring the kingdom of God on earth, even as it is in heaven,” he said.
Election Day is Judgment Day
Though Young is proud of what was accomplished by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, he said, “the city of Birmingham right now, the city of Atlanta right now is worse than it was in 1963. What’s going on in the United States of America is unimaginable, unthinkable.”
Young pointed to several matters of concern, from rising gas and food prices to threats to democracy and people being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). And he said many of the problems plaguing our cities today could have been avoided if more people voted.
“Democracy has broken down because we have abandoned it. We have not voted,” Young said. “Election day is judgment day.”
He recalled a time when gas was 21 cents a gallon, “and 50 cents could take me all the way to Atlanta,” he said. “Now it won’t get you around the corner. But that’s because we don’t vote, and the judgment you give is the judgment you get.”
Young urged listeners not only to vote but also to get others out to the polls, to talk to everyone about voting, including people they see at the barbershop, nail salon or grocery store.
Young highlighted the impact that rising gas prices can have on all.
“Let us vote so that the price of gas doesn’t go so high that the farmer can’t buy the diesel engine gas for his tractor … farmers can’t afford that, so food prices are too high,” he said. “You can’t get to work anymore. You can’t ride a bus. You can’t pay your light bill.”
Later, in an interview with The Birmingham Times, Young elaborated on the cost of complacency.
“People got lazy,” he said. “We got too comfortable. You take it easy, and you take life for granted, and you pay a price, and we’re paying the price right now.”
Nevertheless, Young believes change is possible.
“When we have leadership that loses its way and doesn’t really have the values that the country needs at the time, then we should vote to change them,” he said. “And that’s the mayor’s level, that’s the school board level, that’s the state level, the federal level.”
Despite the challenges facing the country today, Young said he can’t help but look back at his life and feel blessed, and when asked if he’s hopeful for the country, he replied, “I’m hopeful for life.”
Celebrated actor and Bessemer, Alabama, native Andre Holland, right, attended Thursday’s event. Holland portrayed Andrew Young in the 2014 historical drama “Selma.” (Marika N. Johnson, For The Birmingham Times)Recommit to the Work
Thursday’s gathering brought together leaders from across CCT’s five church families — Catholic, Orthodox, Historic Black Church, Mainline Protestant, and Evangelical/Pentecostal. CCT is a coalition of 34 national churches and Christian organizations representing more than 60 million American Christians. CCT works to strengthen relationships across Christian traditions and encourage common witness and action rooted in the reconciling love of Jesus.
“As we mark 20 years of Christian Churches Together and return to Birmingham, we are not only remembering what we committed ourselves to more than a decade ago — we are asking how faithfully we have lived it,” said CCT Executive Director Dr. Monica Schaap Pierce. “This anniversary calls us to recommit ourselves to the work of reconciliation, healing and service.”
Celebrated actor and Bessemer, Alabama, native Andre Holland attended Thursday’s event. Holland portrayed Andrew Young in the 2014 historical drama “Selma,” directed by Ava DuVernay, which centers on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches.
“One of the things that people often ask about acting is have you met Denzel Washington and what’s it like at the Oscars and things like that,” Holland told The Birmingham Times. “One of the best parts for me about being an actor is playing the part and learning about the history of the character that you’re playing and learning how to take that history personally. And then, most of all, watching the ways in which playing the part works on changing you as an actor.”
Holland said the role was “the most profound experience I’ve had in my professional career.” So when he learned Young would be speaking in Birmingham, he felt he had to be in the room.
“I wanted to be here to see him, to thank him,” Holland said. “He’s done so much for so many, and I just want to know what we can do for him.”
Ambassador Andrew J. Young, greets an attendee at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. (Marika N. Johnson, For The Birmingham Times)
