This semester’s Student Participating In Transcending Knowledge Lecture Series began in historic fashion Thursday as former U.S. Ambassador and Civil Rights Activist Andrew Young visited Prairie View A&M University.
During his address, the 80-year-old former U.S. Congressman stressed the importance of “fulfilling your divine destiny,” to audience members, saying that everyone should carry out – in his own words – “the job that God has for them.” He also gave an overview of the Martin Luther King, Jr. monument which is scheduled to be unveiled Aug. 28 in Washington D.C.’s National Mall, by the Reflecting Pool.
The New Orleans native noted that his experiences as an aide to King during the Civil Rights Movement shaped his role as a U.S. Congressman as he focused on issues of poverty, war, and racism. His election to the House of Representatives in 1972 marked the first time an African-American from Georgia had been elected since Reconstruction.
“When I ran for election, I wasn’t trying to be important, or use my status to get elected to another position,” Young said. “When I went to Congress, I was trying to do something about poverty, the issue Dr. King addressed in Washington, and was eventually assassinated over.”
He also spoke on the importance of the youth generation exercising their voting rights, saying that when the youth voted Obama was elected, but when they didn’t, his administration lost control over Congress.
“Since the Obama administration has lost Congress, they will try to repeal the good that he has done. We have to learn some economics because they have changed the game from a political game to a game of economics,” he said.
Young noted that his visit to Prairie View was long overdue, claiming he’s known about Prairie View since his years as a student at Dillard University before transferring to Howard, when the two school’s athletic programs used to compete on a frequent basis.