In a moment that fused Atlanta’s past, present and future, five of the city’s mayors came together to honor the man who helped shape their path — Ambassador Andrew Young.
From Bill Campbell to Andre Dickens, each of them shared the legacy of a leader whose influence extended far beyond City Hall.
“A foundation that has a foundation — that’s what Andrew Young has built,” current mayor Dickens said at an event inside the Woodruff Arts Center, where National Jewish Health honored the former Atlanta mayor with its Humanitarian Award at its annual Legends of Atlanta gala, aptly themed “Forever Young.”
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By the end of the three-hour dinner, Young — dressed in a black tuxedo with a Kente cloth vest — sat center stage, flanked by Campbell, Shirley Franklin, Kasim Reed, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Dickens, in a historic tableau that celebrated not just a man, but a movement.
“He stands among the great architects of America,” said Campbell, placing Young in a lineage stretching from America‘s Founding Fathers to civil rights leaders like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev. Joseph Lowery and the Rev. C.T. Vivian. “And for that, we are eternally grateful.”
The gala — co-chaired by Hank Aaron’s widow and retired journalist Billye Aaron, philanthropist Paul Hagedorn and former chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club Billy Payne — raised funds for National Jewish Health, an organization dedicated to treating respiratory and immune-related illnesses. Speakers throughout the evening also talked about the medical and research work the organization is doing, with several people offering personal testimonies about how the hospital saved their lives.
But the night also held a mirror to Atlanta’s civil rights and political legacies — and to the man who helped write its most defining chapters.
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“It brings great honor to be able to recognize an individual like the ambassador,” said Mark Krause, associate vice president of National Jewish Health. “For 125 years, we’ve been committed to saving the world through charity, helping the underprivileged and restoring health. That’s what we’re all about — and he embodies all of that.”
The black-tie affair, emceed by former WSB-TV anchor Monica Pearson, drew a crowd of about 300, including former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes; King Center CEO Bernice King; former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond; Clark Atlanta University President George T. French Jr.; and former Atlanta first lady Valerie Jackson.
The Trey Clegg Singers, an Atlanta-based multicultural chorus, sang spirituals and a moving rendition of Rod Stewart’s “Forever Young.” Oprah Winfrey and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp offered video tributes…