More than 200 people were treated to a frank conversation between DeKalb CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson and former U.S. Ambassador and civil rights activist Andrew Young at the city’s 42nd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration held at the Brookhaven City Centre on Feb. 27.
The event also recognized two recipients of the Nathaniel Mosby Humanitarian Award – Justice Leah Ward Sears, a former Supreme Court judge and interim president of Emory University, and social justice advocate Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer, who has been advocating for civil rights for 70 years.
The honorees
In a full-circle moment, Sears recalled during her remarks that she was appointed to the City Court of Atlanta by then-Mayor Young at the age of 30. Just three years later, she made history as the first African American woman to serve as a superior court judge in Georgia.
Feyer told the audience that he believes every generation learns to do better in the fight for equal rights, a sentiment echoed by a youngster, Alaric Jason Watkins, who came to the stage to recite a portion of King’s landmark “I Have a Dream” speech.
“I want to say to Rabbi Zev, ‘I heard what you said about the next generation, and don’t worry, we got this,'” Watkins said, after which loud and sustained applause ensued.
Young and Cochran-Johnson exchange stories
The highlight of the morning celebration was the conversation between Cochran-Johnson and the soon-to-be 94-year-old Young, who spoke with reverence about his friendship with King during the battle for racial equality that the American Civil Rights Movement spearheaded in the 1950s and continues today.
He recounted that one of his most memorable marches with King occurred in 1964 during a night march from Lincolnville, FL to the Plaza de la Constitucion, which was met with violent opposition.
“We learned that the Klu Klux Klan had been hired by the sheriff to beat us up,” Young said. “But Dr. King was worried, not because we would be hurt, but that the KKK would be hurt.”
Young said he attempted to “talk some sense” into the KKK members, and “I was making some pretty good progress until someone came up behind me, hit me on the head, and put me on the ground.”
Young said he suffered “a good 15-minute ass-kicking,” but said he was amazed that he felt no pain during the entire event or after.
“I have headaches every day, and I’m very nervous most of the time, but I felt no pain or nervousness that whole weekend,” he said.
He said the mob’s angry words inspired him rather than disgusted him.
“I heard one of the Klu Klux Klan members said, ‘these [racist term for Blacks] sure have a lot of nerve,’ to which one of the women on the march told me, ‘It’s not nerve, it’s faith.’
Faith was the theme
Faith was a theme that surrounded many of Young’s comments during his conversation with Cochran-Johnson, even though he claimed not to be well-versed in the Bible.
“Whenever I get weary and think my work is in vain, here comes the holy spirit to heal my soul,” Young said. “It always goes back to the Bible and the spiritual… as bad as we are, most of the time we make a ‘way out’ of ‘no way.'”
The ceremony paused to reflect the Feb. 17 death of Jesse Jackson, who spent many years alongside King, Young and others as they marched throughout the country demanding equal treatment for all.
International jazz vocalist Lori Williams sang “We’ve Come This Far by Faith,” a hymn written by Albert A. Goodson, which affirms God’s saving power in the past, as well as providing hope for the future.
At the end of the program, Cochran-Johnson presented Young with a lifetime achievement award for his decades of tenacious pursuit of civil rights and equality.
“Your life has been an answer to many questions for individuals struggling with society and where we move forward,” she said. “This is a lifetime achievement, not just in our community and our country, but in the world. We truly pray that one day we have the impact that you have had.”