Image vis MCNAA

By: Mira Donaldson, Staff Writer 

Connection and legacy is an important aspect of any HBCU experience. The many prominent figures that once walked the halls, like Martin Luther King and Stacy Abrams are one of the many reasons why people choose these institutions. 

Student volunteers with Morehouse National Alumni Association engaged in a learning session with Civil rights leader Andrew Young on Oct. 31. Students learned about his life and heard his perspectives on his life as an Ambassador for the United States.

Young explored his purpose in life, his work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the differences between different activist movements.

“I took each day by day” He said, when being asked about the complexity of his journey. 

He also recalled when he first realized his life had deeper meaning when he and a friend hiked up a hill in Georgia. 

“I thought if God made the trees, the grass, the land for something– he had to have given me a purpose,” he said. 

“There are very few living legends that we have access to,” MCNAA Executive Director Michael Levesque said. “To get young people in the same room with him, and be able to have an intimate conversation was critical.”

Morehouse sophomore Xavier Leigh was a part of the conversation and said it was important to understand how Ambassador Young got to where he was today. 

“Coming here today allowed me to  increase my knowledge on someone that looks like me, and what they did for our country, not only for our country but internationally as well and what pushed him to his goals in life,” He said.“In my career, I’ll be dealing with people, and learning to listen to their backgrounds in life.”

Morehouse freshman Saxton Moore Jr., when thinking about his experience with the ambassador, thought that it was important for his learning to be there as well. 

“This is a great place to learn,” he said. 

Young thought it was equally important to speak to the Alumni Association volunteers to pass on the knowledge he has gained through all 91 years of his life.  

“You don’t have any choice,” Young said.“ You are the present generation of leaders, I am just trying to let you know what we went through.”

Conversations like these seem to be a vital part of what it means to go to an HBCU.

Copy Edited by: Auzzy Byrdsell, Editor-in-Chief