LEVICK | August 17th, 2020
American Legend

“The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the early 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama, was so dangerous to Black Americans who suffered so many bombings at the hands of White supremacists that it was often referred to as “Bombingham.” There’s an old joke from the Civil Rights movement: “A Black preacher in Chicago wakes up one morning and tells his wife that Jesus had come to him in a dream and told him to go to Birmingham to seek justice. His wife is horrified. ‘Did Jesus say he’d go with you?’ The husband replies, ‘He said he’d go as far as Memphis.’” Birmingham was just that dangerous.
We view the heroism of history from a safe distance. Pretending that we would do the same, given the opportunity. Stand up for justice, risk our careers, or even our lives. But few of us heed the call. It’s just too hard. You know those moments when we “Go along to get along.” Not to cause even “good trouble” as the late John Lewis would say. Even in protest, we often don the mantle of self-righteousness, which can make change more threatening, rather than advance “truth and reconciliation.”
Imagine not having the safety and security of the rearview mirror, but instead to have lived history-making in real time? What courage and strength of character. At the Edmund Pettus Bridge; on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, with Rosa Parks; at the door at Foster Auditorium when Governor George Wallace attempted to block the integration of the University of Alabama. To run into the burning building rather than away from it?
Enter Andrew Young, among the last of the early civil rights leaders, the former executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and a close confidant to Martin Luther King, Jr. Later in his career he served as a U.S Congressman from Georgia, Ambassador to the United Nations and the Mayor of Atlanta. At 88, he is still leading the way.
Ambassador Young was kind enough to offer to kick off a series called American Legends that we are doing with CommPRO and on our podcast, In House Warrior. Sponsors of this historic event – free to the public – include the Museum of Public Relations and American Heritage magazine. Bill Ide, the former General Counsel of Monsanto, a partner at Akerman in Atlanta and a friend of the Ambassador for over 50 years, will join me in moderating this timely conversation on Aug 21 at 2 pm ET over the CommPRO network.
Ambassador Young will provide perspectives on the upcoming presidential election, including the emerging new “birtherism,” #BLM and the impact of COVID-19 on communities of color… please join the conversation.
Richard Levick
LEVICK | August 17th, 2020
American Legend

“The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the early 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama, was so dangerous to Black Americans who suffered so many bombings at the hands of White supremacists that it was often referred to as “Bombingham.” There’s an old joke from the Civil Rights movement: “A Black preacher in Chicago wakes up one morning and tells his wife that Jesus had come to him in a dream and told him to go to Birmingham to seek justice. His wife is horrified. ‘Did Jesus say he’d go with you?’ The husband replies, ‘He said he’d go as far as Memphis.’” Birmingham was just that dangerous.
We view the heroism of history from a safe distance. Pretending that we would do the same, given the opportunity. Stand up for justice, risk our careers, or even our lives. But few of us heed the call. It’s just too hard. You know those moments when we “Go along to get along.” Not to cause even “good trouble” as the late John Lewis would say. Even in protest, we often don the mantle of self-righteousness, which can make change more threatening, rather than advance “truth and reconciliation.”
Imagine not having the safety and security of the rearview mirror, but instead to have lived history-making in real time? What courage and strength of character. At the Edmund Pettus Bridge; on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, with Rosa Parks; at the door at Foster Auditorium when Governor George Wallace attempted to block the integration of the University of Alabama. To run into the burning building rather than away from it?
Enter Andrew Young, among the last of the early civil rights leaders, the former executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and a close confidant to Martin Luther King, Jr. Later in his career he served as a U.S Congressman from Georgia, Ambassador to the United Nations and the Mayor of Atlanta. At 88, he is still leading the way.
Ambassador Young was kind enough to offer to kick off a series called American Legends that we are doing with CommPRO and on our podcast, In House Warrior. Sponsors of this historic event – free to the public – include the Museum of Public Relations and American Heritage magazine. Bill Ide, the former General Counsel of Monsanto, a partner at Akerman in Atlanta and a friend of the Ambassador for over 50 years, will join me in moderating this timely conversation on Aug 21 at 2 pm ET over the CommPRO network.
Ambassador Young will provide perspectives on the upcoming presidential election, including the emerging new “birtherism,” #BLM and the impact of COVID-19 on communities of color… please join the conversation.
Richard Levick
- Brand
- The Fifth Estate: A Business Guide for Surviving “The Troubles”
- Here We Come
- Corporate Revolt Over Campaign Donations Shakes Political World
- What Happens Next?
- CSR & Sustainability
- Public Perception & the Biden Transition
- WATCH: Reputation Management with PRSA
- Over the River and Through The Woods
- Why Non-Profits are so Vulnerable to Crisis Risk
- The Threat to Free Markets
- What Happens When Nonprofits Get Caught In The Klieg Lights?
- You Took a PPP Loan. Now Get Ready to Talk About It.
- Communications
- The Fifth Estate: A Business Guide for Surviving “The Troubles”
- Here We Come
- The Ministry of Common Sense
- Why Should I Apologize? Lawyers vs. Communicators
- What Happens Next?
- CSR & Sustainability
- A Conversation with Abbe Lowell
- A New Year’s Resolution
- Public Perception & the Biden Transition
- WATCH: Reputation Management with PRSA
- Leveraging Legal Expertise in Communications
- Over the River and Through The Woods
- Company News
- Here We Come
- Recent Awards & Recognition
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- What’s a Director to Do?
- LEVICK Announces Partnership with BCG
- A New Look
- Albert Krieger, 1923-2020
- LEVICK Announces Partnership with Jipyong
- Speaking to In-House Counsel
- Childhood Lessons
- LEVICK Announces New Webinar Series with Turbine Labs
- LEVICK Launches New Website
- Crisis
- Trump’s pardons undercut a decade of foreign lobbying law enforcement. What now?
- Fighting for the Rule of Law with Marshall Harris
- The Fifth Estate: A Business Guide for Surviving “The Troubles”
- What to expect as the clock approaches midnight
- How to Stop the Madness
- Corporate Revolt Over Campaign Donations Shakes Political World
- A Remembrance of Tommy Raskin
- No ‘justice’ in rep’s vote
- A Call for Orderly & Peaceful Transition of Power
- Recovering from the Greatest Sacrifice
- The Cost of Government Regulation and the Threat to Free Enterprise
- What Happens Next?
- Finance
- Here We Come
- The Threat to Free Markets
- Advisory & Insurance Services
- WATCH: Revolutionizing Litigation Finance
- Litigation Finance: Revolutionizing Litigation
- Consumer-Focused Solutions for Financial Health
- Event: Consumer-Focused Solutions for Financial Health
- Sports: Power and Money in a New Age of Social Justice
- The Balancing Act: The Role of Whistleblowers in American Commerce and Government
- The Evolving and More Powerful FARA
- FCPA & Compliance in a Time of Uncertainty
- Shareholders vs. Stakeholders: Is the Paradigm Shifting?
- Guest Column
- Guest Blog: The Mainstream Media Gets an A for Intellectual Arrogance, an F for Journalism
- Buckle up Directors: Cybersecurity Risk and Bankruptcy Risk Are Not Mutually Exclusive
- Buckle up Directors: Cybersecurity Risk and Bankruptcy Risk Are Not Mutually Exclusive
- South Africa: The Slow Decline of the ANC
- Why CSR Fails and How to Fix It
- What to Expect Following the European Elections?
- Buhari Inaugurated. What Now for Nigeria?
- Marketing- It’s Up To You…
- Crisis Management lessons from the air-crash investigation model
- The Future of War
- Health
- Food Issues & the Biden Administration
- Covid-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened
- Pharma’s Post-Pandemic Policy Outlook
- Keeping Hope Alive
- Real Herd Immunity
- The Fiction of College Sports Amateurism
- Mac Summit: Crisis Communications in a Post-Covid, Post-Election World
- Travel Industry Communications in the Age of Covid-19
- Track of Time
- Is C-19 Taking Women Lawyers’ Careers Back to the 1950s?
- Post-Pandemic PR Strategy
- Bankruptcy: A Culture of Transparency
- In Memoriam
- Snider’s Super Foods: Locally World Famous
- Speak Truth With Love, Not Anger
- In Memoriam: Stephen Susman
- Letter to the Movement
- John Lewis’ Life Bridged the Best of America
- Albert Krieger, 1923-2020
- In Memoriam of Marcia Horowitz
- Jim Lehrer Passes Away
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Harold Burson Passes Away
- Interviews
- CommPRO: Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s Life & Legacy
- Richard Levick on “My Wakeup Call”
- Primerus Webinar: Into the Wind
- The Future of Baseball Post-Pandemic
- Webinar: The End of Brand Neutrality
- Thought Leadership & Organic Growth
- Man & Superman
- LEVICK Announces New Webinar Series with Turbine Labs
- Navigating Coronavirus Challenges in the Insurance Industry
- VIDEO: How to Anticipate & Avoid a Crisis
- What’s Next? with Julie Chase
- What’s Next?: California Electoral Behavior
- Law Firms
- Fighting for the Rule of Law with Marshall Harris
- Why Should I Apologize? Lawyers vs. Communicators
- You Took a PPP Loan. Now Get Ready to Talk About It.
- Beyond Black Swan: Positioning the law firm for the new normal
- A Salute to Personal Courage and the Rule of Law
- Cyber Risk Institute Expands Its Profile
- When a client becomes a law firm’s PR nightmare
- The General Counsel’s Dilemma
- A First Look at the Google Antitrust Suit
- The Latest Top Class Actions
- Trust on Trial: How Communicators Succeed in a World No Longer Trusted
- The Latest Settlements, Class actions, Investigations & More
- Litigation
- Fighting for the Rule of Law with Marshall Harris
- Why Should I Apologize? Lawyers vs. Communicators
- A Conversation with Abbe Lowell
- Leveraging Legal Expertise in Communications
- You Took a PPP Loan. Now Get Ready to Talk About It.
- Beyond Black Swan: Positioning the law firm for the new normal
- A Salute to Personal Courage and the Rule of Law
- Cyber Risk Institute Expands Its Profile
- When a client becomes a law firm’s PR nightmare
- The General Counsel’s Dilemma
- WATCH: Revolutionizing Litigation Finance
- Litigation Finance: Revolutionizing Litigation
- Our Work
- Recent Awards & Recognition
- The Cyber Bad Guys Are Getting Worse
- Crisis Communications & The Age of Cancel Culture
- Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
- Video: Conversations with American Legends
- Staying Ahead of the Crisis
- A New Era of Insurance Marketing
- Infographic: Judgment Free Zone
- Infographic: Barriers to Entry
- Infographic: History Meter
- Assistance for Law Firms Engaged in Pro Bono
- Webinar: The End of Brand Neutrality
- Public Affairs
- Trump’s pardons undercut a decade of foreign lobbying law enforcement. What now?
- Fighting for the Rule of Law with Marshall Harris
- The Fifth Estate: A Business Guide for Surviving “The Troubles”
- What to expect as the clock approaches midnight
- How to Stop the Madness
- Corporate Revolt Over Campaign Donations Shakes Political World
- No ‘justice’ in rep’s vote
- A Call for Orderly & Peaceful Transition of Power
- Recovering from the Greatest Sacrifice
- Food Issues & the Biden Administration
- The Cost of Government Regulation and the Threat to Free Enterprise
- What Happens Next?
- Risk
- Ingredients of Decency
- ESG Performance and Credit Markets
- The Coronavirus Saga is Just Beginning
- No. 1 Risk of the Decade
- The Risk Evolution of Corporate Risk
- Extend Risk Management Reach
- Collective Action
- Risk Identifying Software
- The New Risk of Doing Nothing
- Political Unrest In Hong Kong
- High-Profile Kidnaps in African National Parks
- Cyber Resilience
- Social
- The Ministry of Common Sense
- How to Stop the Madness
- A Remembrance of Tommy Raskin
- No ‘justice’ in rep’s vote
- A Call for Orderly & Peaceful Transition of Power
- Recovering from the Greatest Sacrifice
- CSR & Sustainability
- A New Year’s Resolution
- Dropping the Mic
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- Crisis, Covid, DEI & the Election
- MLK’s Memphis Address
- Technology
- Constella Intelligence Announces Hunter for Improved Investigation Capability
- Cyber Risk Institute Expands Its Profile
- Digital Politics: The Future of Voting Technology
- Ethics in Electronics
- The Cyber Bad Guys Are Getting Worse
- A First Look at the Google Antitrust Suit
- The Pause
- Cybersecurity Incidents of the Summer
- The Changing Digital Economy and Cyber Risks
- The Future of U.S. Manufacturing
- Tech CEO Summer Superbowl hearing
- Technology & Privacy Alert
- This Week
- A Remembrance of Tommy Raskin
- A New Year’s Resolution
- Over the River and Through The Woods
- Dropping the Mic
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- The Cyber Bad Guys Are Getting Worse
- What We Hear
- Track of Time
- Video: Conversations with American Legends
- Conversations with American Legends
- A New Era of Insurance Marketing
- American Legend