ATLANTA — One of Dr. Martin Luther King’s closest friends - civil rights icon and former UN Ambassador Andrew Young – is speaking out about the release of the FBI files pertaining to the assassination of Dr. King.
“I don’t think I’ve hardly ever made a speech, and I make hundreds, when somewhere in the speech I don’t quote Martin Luther King,” Young said.
Young told Channel 2’s Karyn Greer that he was very close to the late King, often side by side in the fight for civil rights.
“He never had a million dollars a year to work with. I think the SCLC budget, when I was there until he died, it never reached more than $600,000 a year. And his salary was $6,000 a year,” Young said.
While Young was serving Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, he said he was asked to lead the panel looking into King’s assassination.
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“I was asked if I would like to even chair it. I had decided that we had to keep Martin Luther King’s mission and message alive. And there was no need in looking back. I still feel that way,” Young said.
Young told Greer that the work King has done for justice, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize, is what people should be concerned about and is still important work today.
“It’s been 60 years. Sixty years and Martin Luther King is more loved now all over the world than he was and better known. And you can’t … you cannot kill that,” Young said.
King’s niece, FOX News contributor the Rev. Alveda King, released a statement on X, saying in part:
“The truth shall set us free (John 8:32). My uncle’s legacy was one of truth, faith, and freedom, and it’s time for America to hear the full story.”
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