Whitney M. Young Jr. was a social worker whose life’s work embodied the concept of Harambee. His legacy is a reminder that unity is a practice and not just an aspiration. He is regarded as the forgotten, unsung hero of social change in America.
What influence led Whitney M. Young Jr. to pursue a career in social work?
Whitney M. Young Jr. was born in 1921 in Lincoln Ridge, Kentucky. He spent his childhood on the campus of the Lincoln Institute, where his father was president. African American students attended the school, had interracial staff and were funded by white people. The National Museum of African American History and Culture states that the school funders dictated the curriculum, and students received training to fulfil roles such as janitors and nannies. Whitney’s father wanted the pupils to be equipped to be doctors and professors, so he developed a secret curriculum that included maths, writing and advanced science. In the book Militant Mediator, the author Dickerson reflects that Whitney M. Young, Sr. demonstrated mediation and leadership skills, and that Whitney M. Young, Jr. learnt creative problem-solving and pragmatism from him.
After graduating from Kentucky State College in 1941, Young became a coach, teacher and assistant principal at the Rosenwald High School in Madisonville, Kentucky.
This role was short-lived as he soon enlisted in the Army. Young was promoted from Private to First Sergeant in under a month. Due to racial tensions, he adopted an ‘unofficial ‘role as a mediator and liaison between white southern officers and black servicemen. This experience is said to have shaped his leadership style of ‘Militant Mediator’ and inspired him to switch his career choice from wanting to be a medic to social work, and was the starting point of his lifelong career in the promotion of solidarity.
Solidarity across communities, institutions, and social divides- Social work for systemic change.
Youngs’ social work career started before gaining his master’s in social work in 1947, interning at the local Urban League (founded in 1910 to support black migrants get housing and work). When he graduated, he was hired as the Industrial Relations secretary, a role that enabled him to secure opportunities for employment for African Americans. His success promoted him to executive secretary, which enabled him to teach social work courses at the University of Nebraska and Creighton University.
In 1954, Young became the Dean of the Atlanta University School of Social Work, the region’s only accredited school for African Americans. Young opened up training to people who could not obtain degrees and secured scholarship funding from 1954 until 1961.
In 1961, he became the Executive Director of the National Urban League, which gave him the platform to pave the way for equality and an economic-based revolution, to integrate African Americans into the mainstream of American life. Young, forged relationships with corporate America and is said to almost single-handedly persuaded major corporations to hire African Americans and contribute financially to the civil rights movement. At the height of his influence, he placed 40,000 African Americans in jobs in a single year.
His book ‘ To be equal’ laid out the radical idea of a “Domestic Marshall Plan” which called for $ 145-billion investment to improve education, employment and welfare of African American communities. Young advocated that if America can pay 13 billion to rebuild Europe after the war, then it can invest in its own culturally torn and economically deprived citizens.
President Johnson was impressed by his plan and incorporated many of his ideas into his own plans for society. From these plans were born Medicare, Head Start and Model Cities.
Advocacy through adversity
Young’s leadership style embodied the Harambee theme of collaboration. He demonstrated and advocated that true power can come through collaboration and strategic coordinated action. Young stated, “They didn’t shout Irish power or Jew power or Italian power. They kept their mouths shut and took over the police department of New York City…”
Young’s approach was seen as increasingly detached from grassroots realities, which increasingly promoted confrontational protest and self-defence rather than non-violence. He was frequently denounced, and in 1968, Herman B. Ferguson, a radical educator and former Black Panther leader, was convicted of conspiring to assassinate him and Roy Wilkins, another civil rights leader.
This did not deter Young, who continued to use his influence in corporate America to advocate for workforce integration and strengthen the National Urban League into one of the most influential civil rights policy organisations in America. He publicly opposed the Vietnam War, citing inequality for African American soldiers and emphasising that a nation that could not solve poverty at home should not wage war abroad. He used his platform to travel internationally, advising governments on social reform, economic development and urban planning.
Whitney was 49 years old when he died in 1971 in a swimming accident in Lagos, Nigeria, whilst attending an international conference.
Harambee as guiding philosophy – emphasising “pulling together” for hope, harmony, and resilience.
Young’s life is a testament to both the ethos of social work and Harambee. In the 55 years since his death, society has changed in a polarity of ways, and we have experienced many facets of confrontational uprising, war and peaceful negotiation. Young’s approach bridged divides and made significant systemic change through empowerment and partnership. His leadership style and vision for equity provided a lens for the challenge of bias within existing societal frameworks, forcing influential leaders to examine and rebuild these foundations. Latterly, his approach was challenged by the very movement he fought for.
If Whitney M Young were alive today, how would his approach be viewed within the social and political landscape?
Blog written by Deborah Whitehead.
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