Civil rights leader and author Andrew Young to visit Des Moines' Drake University Monday

Civil rights leader and former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young and Atlanta Journal Constitution journalist Ernie Suggs will visit Drake University Monday as part of a meet-and-greet and Black History Month exhibit.

The conversation with Young and Suggs is set to take place at 7 p.m. Monday, at Drake’s Olmsted Center. Admission to the event is free with advance registration, and attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A with both panelists.

Who is Andrew Young?

President Jimmy Carter appointed Young, 91, to the role as U.N. ambassador in 1977. He was the first African American to hold that position.

Young also served as a representative for the state of Georgia in Congress, winning his election in 1972 and becoming the first congressman from the Deep South elected since Reconstruction.

He served as mayor of Atlanta from 1981 to 1989, bringing the city $70 billion in foreign direct investment and 1 million new jobs, as well as hosting the 1988 Democratic National Convention, according to his biography at Georgia State University's Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.

Before entering the political arena, Young led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s “citizenship schools,” and worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to teach nonviolent organizing strategies, according to his biography, which describes him as a "key strategist and negotiator during campaigns that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965."

Young is one of the last surviving members of King’s inner circle, according to the Associated Press. They first met in 1957 at a fraternity symposium at Talladega College and Young remained with King until he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.

Why is Andrew Young in Des Moines?

Young and Suggs’ appearance comes as part of Drake’s “The Many Lives of Andrew Young Exhibit,” named after a book about Young that Suggs authored. “The book tells the inspiring, dramatic story of civil rights hero, congressman, ambassador, mayor and American icon Andrew J. Young,” according to a news release from Drake.

“While this is a student-centered event, mentors and professors (and other campus supporters of the exhibit) are welcome to attend with their students,” the release stated.

The exhibit will remain at Drake until March 1. Former Iowa state Rep. Wayne Ford said he is excited for the conversation, citing his time caucusing for Carter as a privilege.

“President Carter later appointed Ambassador Young to his position, a great win for all Americans,” Ford said. “This will be an important two days for Drake University and Iowa alike.”

The event will be livestreamed and was made possible through Drake’s Slay Fund for Social Justice.

Editor's note: This article was updated with the proper name of Drake’s Slay Fund for Social Justice.

Biong Biong is a reporter for the Des Moines Register. He is a senior at Iowa State University and is from Virginia but graduated from Waukee High School.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Civil rights leader, author Andrew Young set to visit Drake University