Though his name is not on everyone’s lips like Martin Luther King’s, Whitney M. Young Jr. was a powerful force in the Civil Rights movement.

The namesake of our center, Young was a strong voice in the fight for equality, but he’s since become something of an unsung hero.

But Young did not seek attention or glory. He even turned down a position in Richard Nixon’s presidential cabinet, despite informally advising not only Nixon, but also Kennedy and Johnson.

Instead, Young preferred to keep his position as director of the National Urban League, which he held from 1961 until his death in 1971.

During his tenure, Young was an effective force at bridging the gap between Black activists and white political and business leaders – often earning support from the latter to help the former’s cause.

And yet, Young was not afraid to make daring decisions in his role – such as the choice to sponsor Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington and march alongside King himself – at the time, a controversial move.

“Every man is our brother, and every man’s burden is our own. Where poverty exists, all are poorer. Where hate flourishes, all are corrupted. Where injustice reins, all are unequal,” Young once said.

His fight against poverty and injustice – including his role as a formative voice in president Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, which included the creation of Job Corps itself – is a legacy we here at Whitney M. Young Job Corps Center continue every day.