Channel 2 walks through new civil rights museum with Andrew Young

ATLANTA — The new National Center for Civil and Human Rights walks visitors through time and how Atlanta and its people played roles in one of the most important movements in the country's history. 
 
Channel 2's John Bachman was with former Ambassador Andrew Young when he visited the center for the first time.  It was an educational and emotional experience.
 
 Young first teared-up while seeing a video of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech during the 1963 March on Washington.
 
"It's good," Young said wiping away a tear.  "You know, I couldn't afford to be emotional during the movement.  I don't think I was able to relax for 10 years."
 
Before Young was ambassador to the United Nations, a congressman and Atlanta's mayor, he was a leader in the civil rights movement, working side-by-side with King in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
 
"There was a lot of pressure," Young said.
         
Young talked openly about the spies in the civil rights movement.
 
"We always knew we were infiltrated by everybody and we really didn't care," Young said.  "We wanted people to know what we were doing. We didn't want them to write bad reports. We knew what we were doing was legal, moral and good for the country."
 
Young and King risked their lives for the cause.  He was on the balcony with King the night in Memphis when he was shot and killed.  A picture of Young standing over King's body hangs in the center.
 
Young told Bachman it took some time, but he eventually learned King's work kept going even after his death.
 
"We are seeing the death of Martin Luther King's body, but we are also seeing the liberation of his spirit." Young said.  "You think of the way his spirit has spread around the world, you realize they didn't kill him."

WSBTV