“If we are developing communities without keeping children and seniors in mind, then we’re doing a great disservice to our citizens!” Words spoken by Councilman Ivory Young of District 3 in Atlanta about five years ago.
It was his advocacy and attention to children and seniors that connected us.
Ivory Lee Young Jr. was the District 3 representative on the Atlanta City Council in Georgia. He was first elected in 2001. Young passed away while in office on November 16, 2018.
While serving the communities of District 3, he made it a point to support his community schools. He helped create partnerships for our community schools. He ensured that our communities have improved playgrounds and recreations centers. Ivory wanted our communities to be great. He knew that if communities were great so would our schools.
He supported community organizations such as Fathers Incorporated. Often times Councilman Young would be the only elected official some students would see in District 3. He made it point to empower our youth and support our community organizations leading them.
He boldly supported legislation and changes in criminal justice that would decrease the numbers of Black boys in our jail and juvenile detention centers. In meetings he would encourage citizens to meet local business owners and school leaders. He worked to build up our communities in order to protect and provide safe and positive opportunities for our Black boys to succeed.
As a city council member his engagement and support of improving how we teach Black boys was powerful. Imagine if we had this type of engagement from more city council or elected officials who serve inner city communities.
Jason has worked in education for over 15 years as a teacher, blogger and community advocate. He speaks and writes primarily about the need to improve education for Black boys, particularly increasing the number of Black male educators in schools. In addition to blogging here at EdLanta, Jason is also a featured writer at Education Post.