Elson Lecture featuring Abby Phillip in conversation with Ambassador Andrew Young

Run of Show

6:15 PM: Doors open to the public; signed books will be available for sale

7:00 PM: Author Talk begins with Abby Phillip in conversation with Ambassador Andrew Young

8:15 PM: Meet and greet photo line with Abby Phillip following the in-conversation event; signed book purchases available

Please note that all books will be pre-signed for this event. Books can be purchased in advance with your ticket, or are available on a first come, first served basis at the event. We appreciate your support!

From CNN’s Abby Phillip, a triumphant new look at Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaigns of the 1980s and how they changed Black political power.

Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, activist, raconteur, and political candidate, finally gets a book worthy of his stature courtesy of CNN anchor Abby Phillip.

Focusing on his presidential runs in 1984 and, especially, 1988, Phillip highlights how Jackson built an unlikely coalition that showed how Black political power could be consolidated. His experience working under Martin Luther King; his organizing the SLCC’s Operation Breadbasket in Chicago and beyond; and his roots in the deep South combined into two astonishingly impactful presidential campaigns. Appealing to the working people of urban enclaves like that of Chicago, young people on college campuses, and Black people across the South, he created the modern Democratic coalition—one that has been used by all major Democrats seeking national success from Obama to Biden to Harris.

With her expert reporting, natural storytelling skills, and a story so full of humanity, politics, and hope, Abby Phillip has written a rousing popular history that sheds new light on an American icon.

Abby Phillip anchors NewsNight with Abby Phillip on CNN. She’s also worked at The Washington Post, ABC News, and Politico. Throughout her career she has covered multiple presidents, campaign finance, lobbying and several presidential campaigns. Phillip was named to the Time 100 Next List in 2021 and she was a recipient of the National Urban League’s Women of Power award. Phillip was raised in Maryland and is a graduate of Harvard University. She lives in New York City with her husband, daughter, and pup Booker T.

Andrew J. Young has earned worldwide recognition as a pioneer in and champion of civil and human rights.

Young’s lifelong dedication to service is illustrated by his extensive leadership experience of over sixty-five years, serving as a member of Congress, African American U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mayor of Atlanta, and ordained minister, among other positions.

During the 1960s, Andrew Young was a key strategist and negotiator during Civil Rights campaigns that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Appointed as an Ambassador to the United Nations in 1977, Young negotiated an end to white-minority rule in Namibia and Zimbabwe and brought President Jimmy Carter's emphasis on human rights to international diplomacy efforts.

Later, As two-term Mayor of Atlanta, Young brought in over 1,100 businesses, over 70 billion in foreign direct investments and generated over a million jobs.

Young has received honorary degrees from more than 100 universities and colleges in the U.S. and abroad and has received various awards, including an Emmy Lifetime Achievement award in 2011 and the Dan Sweat Award in 2017. His portrait also became part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

Ambassador Young also serves on a number of boards, including, but not limited to, the Martin Luther King Center for Non-Violent Social Change, Morehouse College, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State and Americas Mart.

In 2003, he and his wife Carolyn McClain Young founded the Andrew J. Young Foundation to support and promote education, health, leadership and human rights in the U.S., Africa, and the Caribbean. Young currently serves as the Chairman of the Andrew J. Young Foundation.

In 2012, Young retired from GoodWorks International, LLC, after well over a decade of facilitating sustainable economic development in the business sectors of the Caribbean and Africa.

Young was born in 1932 in New Orleans, and he currently lives in Atlanta with his wife, Carolyn McClain, who serves as Vice Chair of the Andrew J. Young Foundation. He is also a father of three daughters and one son, a grandfather of nine and a great grandfather on one.

The Elson Lectures are made possible with generous funding from Ambassador and Mrs. Edward Elson.