An Easy Burden; The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America

25 cm. x, 550 pages. Illustrated(Timelines) endpapers. Illustrations. Afterword. Index. Inscribed and dated by the author on half-title page. Andrew Jackson Young Jr. (born March 13, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and a close confidant to Martin Luther King Jr. Young later became active in politics, serving first as a U.S. Congressman from Georgia, then United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and finally Mayor of Atlanta. Since leaving political office, Young has founded or served in a large number of organizations working on issues of public policy and political lobbying. Derived from a Kirkus review: This eventual congressman, UN ambassador, and mayor of Atlanta came of age at a critical time in African-American history. Well educated and well read himself, Young came to the civil-rights movement with a belief that civility, compassion, and nonviolence could be equally formidable weapons in the struggle for equality. He also rejected the belief, drawn from the teachings of W.E.B. DuBois, that only the efforts of the top ten percent of the ``Negro race'' would be capable of advancing the cause, cultivating instead a populist view of the struggle. Young's convictions served him well as a lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr. as he acted both as a liaison to white groups and as a moderate voice within King's closest circle of advisors. Young takes his readers to the streets of Birmingham, Selma, and Washington; he vividly recounts the growth of the movement through the 1960s and the turmoil after King's assassination. Young's firsthand reportage adds much of value to his book. Second Edition [stated]. First printing [stated].…