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Author Talk: The Many Lives of Andrew Young

MLK Library welcomes legendary activist Ambassador Andrew Young, author Ernie Suggs, and CNN National Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux in celebration of the new memoir, The Many Lives of Andrew Young.

As the MLK Library celebrates the 50th anniversary of the central library in downtown Washington D.C., we welcome civil and human rights activist Andrew Young, joined by journalist and author Ernie Suggs in the celebration of the new memoir, The Many Lives of Andrew Young. Leading this evening's conversation will be CNN National Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. This event brought to you by the DC Public Library, Mahogany Books, and the DC Public Library Foundation.

From his childhood in New Orleans to Howard University as a boy of fifteen, from his work as a young pastor in Alabama to his leadership role in the SCLC, from serving as the first Black congressman from Georgia since Reconstruction to serving as the ambassador to the United Nations, from two transformational terms as mayor of Atlanta co-chairmanship of the 1996 Summer Olympics Games, from co-founding Good Works International to promoting human rights across the globe with the Andrew Young Foundation, The Many Lives of Andrew Young tells the inspiring, dramatic story of civil rights hero, congressman, ambassador, mayor, and American icon Andrew Young.

Featuring hundreds of full-color photographs that capture the extraordinary life and times of Andrew Young and a captivating narrative by acclaimed Atlanta Journal-Constitution race reporter Ernie Suggs, interspersed with personal accounts from Andrew Young himself, The Many Lives of Andrew Young is both a tribute to and an essential chronicle of the life of a man whose activism and service changed the face of America and whose work continues to reverberate around the world today.

The book carries a foreword by President Jimmy Carter and an introduction by Gaurav Kumar, President of The Andrew J. Young Foundation.

Author Bio:

Ernie Suggs has been a reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1997, currently covering race and culture. At the AJC, he is also the publisher of the paper’s weekly, Black-oriented newsletter, Unapologetically ATL. Suggs earned his B.A. degree in English Literature from North Carolina Central University in 1990, where he was the editor in chief and sports editor of The Campus Echo. In 1996, Suggs was awarded a fellowship by the Education Writers Association, which culminated in his award- winning, Pulitzer-nominated series Fighting to Survive: Historically Black Colleges and Universities Face the 21st Century. In 2005, Suggs became the Vice President of the NABJ. He was chosen for the prestigious Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 2008, and in 2009, he joined the Nieman Foundation's board. Suggs received the Pioneer Black Journalist Award from NABJ in 2013.

Moderator Bio: 

Award-winning journalist Suzanne Malveaux serves as the network's national correspondent, covering politics, national news, international events and culture. Previously, she co-anchored CNN's Around The World and co-anchored the network's Emmy-winning coverage of the revolution in Egypt and the network's Peabody Award-winning coverage of the Arab Spring.
Malveaux also covered the White House for more than 10 years as a White House correspondent--covering Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama traveling to Europe, Africa, The Balkans, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Middle East. She has interviewed all 5 living Presidents, and several First Ladies. Malveaux also made news when she interviewed Donald Trump in April 2011, challenging him on his false Obama birther narrative, as he contemplated a Presidential run.
In March of 2012, Malveaux returned to Rwanda---the former civil war torn African nation she had covered 14 years ago with then President Clinton, and updated the reconciliation efforts. Later in October, she returned to South Africa where she interviewed the family of Nelson Mandela and covered Soweto "36 years out of the student uprising". Years earlier, in 1998, she covered President Bill Clinton's tour of Mandela's prison cell at Robben Island, with the Civil Rights leader.
In September 2011, Malveaux embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 where she led breaking news coverage of the Taliban's terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy there.
Malveaux was recently recognized by Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism for covering "One of the top 50 stories of the Century" for her reporting on then Senator Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. During that time Malveaux reported and crafted a 90 minute documentary on Senator Barack Obama, and served as a panelist questioning the candidates in the Democratic Presidential Primary Debate in Charlotte, North Carolina in Jan. 2008, and Democratic Presidential Debate in Las Vegas in Nov. 2007. She also played a key role in CNN's Emmy-winning election coverage of 2006 and 2004.
Malveaux covered President Obama's 2013 inauguration in Washington, D.C. and the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.
In September 2005, Malveaux returned to her family's hometown of New Orleans where she reported on the devastation and recovery following Hurricane Katrina. She was part of the coverage teams that earned CNN a Peabody Award for its Katrina reporting and a duPont Award for CNN's coverage of the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia.
Among the stories Malveaux has broken for CNN are: the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the plea deal of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and White House personnel changes.
Before joining the network in May 2002, Malveaux was a correspondent for NBC News based in Chicago and Washington, D.C. During her tenure, she traveled the country covering breaking news for MSNBC reporting on 9/11, the Pentagon, politics, the 2000 Ballot recount, and Clinton's impeachment trial.
Malveaux started as a general assignment reporter for WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., and WFXT-TV and New England Cable News in Boston. Before getting into the news business, Malveaux produced documentaries in Egypt and Kenya and worked on a one-hour documentary on the Great Depression with Boston-based Blackside Inc.
Malveaux has been named an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow, an Aspen Global Leadership Network fellow, an Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and holds 3 Honorary Bachelor degrees.
She has participated in numerous panels at the Aspen Institute Ideas Festival and Brainstorming summits. She serves on the Board of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and the International Women's Media Foundation.
Malveaux was awarded with a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in May for her 2013 ALS series. She has also been recognized as "One of America's Most Powerful Players Under 40" by Black Enterprise, Ebony's ''Outstanding Women in Marketing & Communications", The Root.com 100's "Most Influential Young African Americans", and Essence Magazine's "2009 Journalist of the Year".
Malveaux is personally dedicated to promoting awareness and research for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Malveaux chronicled her mother's battle against the disease in a series of CNN reports in 2013 ('My Mother's Journey with ALS').
Malveaux earned a Bachelor's degree from Harvard University and a Master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

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