Drake University and The Slay Fund for Social Justice Present: A Conversation with Ambassador Andrew Young and Journalist Ernie Suggs

Come join us at Drake University (Des Moines, IA) for an evening of civil rights history and social justice featuring Ambassador Andrew Young and Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist Ernie Suggs. This special event, held on Monday, February 26 at 7:00pm, will offer an in-person presentation complementing the 'Many Lives of Andrew Young' exhibit featured at Drake University during Black History Month. The event, free and open to all Drake students, faculty, and staff and the general public, will begin at 7:00pm in Olmsted Center (Parents Hall, upper level) and will also be live-streamed and can be accessed through https://live.drake.edu/.

The corresponding exhibit, on display at Drake University in the Cowles Library Reading Room during February 2024, originated as a coffee table book also titled, Many Lives of Andrew Young. Written by AJC journalist, Ernie Suggs, the book tells the inspiring, dramatic story of civil rights hero, congressman, ambassador, mayor, and American icon Andrew J. Young Jr. In addition to this public presentation, the traveling exhibit welcomes campus and general public visitors, including groups, to witness it firsthand during its exhibition at Drake University (free admission) through March 1, 2024.

Many Lives of Andrew Young: The arc of Young’s life stretches from childhood in New Orleans to reaching Howard University as a boy of fifteen, from his work as a young pastor in Alabama and Georgia to his leadership role in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, from serving as the first Black congressman from Georgia since Reconstruction to being appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, from two transformational terms as the Mayor of Atlanta to co-chairmanship of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, from co-founding Good Works International to promoting human rights across the globe with the Andrew J. Young Foundation.

This event will include a presentation and Q&A session led by AJC Journalist Ernie Suggs, to discuss and highlight the contents of the exhibit and book, along with sharing personal stories about their civil rights journey. Ernie Suggs has been a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1997, currently covering race and culture and he has been the paper’s primary civil rights reporter, covering activists including Coretta Scott King, Joseph E. Lowery, C. T. Vivian, Hosea Williams, and Andrew Young. This event is made possible through the generous support of Brent (ED'70) and Diane (ED'70) Slay, through the Slay Fund for Social Justice at Drake University. We invite you to join us for this landmark visit to Drake University to celebrate and honor the life of Ambassador Young and elevate social justice issues in Iowa and beyond.

This event is free to attend, but pre-registration is required (on a first-come, first-served basis). Pre-register and reserve your seat here.