Civil rights icon, Ambassador Andrew Young and his daughter, Paula Young Shelton, deliver a powerful oral history about a special day in Andrew’s childhood that changed him forever. This story of race relations in the 1930s South is illustrated by bestselling Caldecott Honor winner Gordon C. James.

As a boy, Andrew Young learned a vital lesson from his parents when a local chapter of the Nazi party instigated racial unrest in their hometown of New Orleans in the 1930s. While Hitler's teachings promoted White supremacy, Andrew's father, told him that when dealing with the sickness of racism, "Don't get mad, get smart." To drive home this idea, Andrew Young Senior took his family to the local movie house to see a newsreel of track star Jesse Owens racing toward Olympic gold, showing the world that the best way to promote equality is to focus on the finish line. The teaching of his parents, and Jesse Owens' example, would be the guiding principles that shaped Andrew's beliefs in nonviolence and built his foundation as a civil rights leader and advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The story is vividly recalled by Paula Young Shelton, Andrew's daughter.

Andrew Young is an American legend, who was a close friend and advisor of Martin Luther King, Jr., and a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Dr. King. In 1972, when he was elected to Congress in Atlanta, Georgia, he was the first African American representative from the Deep South since Reconstruction to hold such a position. President Jimmy Carter appointed Andrew Young as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations where he promoted human rights around the world. He was the first African American to hold the position, and was also served in the Cabinet, a group of the president’s closest advisors. Ambassador Young served two terms as Mayor of Atlanta. He continues to bring people from around the world together through the Andrew J. Young Foundation, which supports and promotes education, leadership, and human rights in the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean. He lives in Atlanta, GA.
Paula Young Shelton is an Early Childhood Educator with nearly 20 years experience teaching and the author of the children's book, Child of the Civil Rights Movement. A graduate of Duke University, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology in 1983.
Gordon C. James is the award-winning illustrator of CROWN: AN ODE TO THE FRESH CUT, written by Derrick Barnes, for which Gordon received the Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King Honor and Ezra Jack Keats Honor awards, among others. Some of his other works include illustrations of Patricia McKissack’s SCRAPS OF TIME series.