At 80, Andrew Young — who has been a civil rights giant, congressman, U.N. ambassador, big city mayor, television executive, businessman, and global entrepreneur — is finally slowing down.
At least that is what he is saying.
“I have done everything everybody else wanted me to do. I don’t have enough energy to do what I want to do and what everybody else wants me to do,” Young said. “I want to cut back on some of the obligations.”
But sitting in the office of the Andrew Young Foundation last week, he constantly reaches for his iPhone, fielding calls from business associates and people seeking political advice. He also fiddles with his iPad, looking for his 76th book to read this year. At one point, Ernest Green, a member of the Little Rock Nine, just walks in to say hello.
“I want to give back the blessings that I have received. I want to be active in my church,” Young continues. “I want to be active with black schools like Morehouse and Clark Atlanta.”
The list goes on and grows: continue to fight injustice through nonviolence, bring the government and private sector together to create jobs, open more trade routes, make movies.
“I think about big things,” he concludes.
Ambassador Andrew Young will celebrate his 80th birthday with an all-star gala on Sunday.
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