Andrew Young was at Martin Luther King’s side throughout often violent struggle for civil rights

By GARY FIELDS
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Andrew Young, one of the last surviving members of Martin Luther King Jr.’s inner circle, recalls the journey to the signing of the Voting Rights Act as an arduous one, often marked by violence and bloodshed. However, when he heard the act had been signed into law, his response was not celebratory but strategic: How would the movement get the money so it could mobilize and register voters? Now 91, Young says voting rights have always been the vehicle for equality and notes that progress has never happened in a straight line.