THOMASVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Annie Walden remembers 70 years ago when Andrew Young began his career as a pastor of a small Black church in Thomasville in 1955 — years before he became a civil rights leader beside Martin Luther King, Jr., a U.S. congressman, United Nations ambassador and Atlanta mayor.
“He stayed around the house with us a lot. He would go across the field with my husband. He laid some bricks on our fireplace and bragging that he never laid bricks before,” Walden said. “He was like family.”
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FILE - Vice President Al Gore, left, along with Billy Payne, right, CEO of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), and co-chair of the ACOG Andrew Young, standing at center, watch a video at the White House, Aug. 2, 1995, during a meeting of the White House Task Force on the Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Denis Paquin, File)
FILE - A federal marshal reads a court order halting a planned voter registration protest as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., right, and fellow marcher Andrew Young, left, look on in Selma, Ala., March 9, 1965. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Civil rights worker Andrew Young, walks ahead as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. hops over a puddle, in front of Rev. Ralph Abernathy, leading hundreds of African Americans to the court house in a voter registration drive in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this June 12, 1964 file photo, Andrew Young leans into a police car to talk to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the back seat with a police dog as he is returned to jail in St. Augustine, Fla., after testifying before a grand jury investigating racial unrest in the city. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, left, joins Haiti's President for-life Jean-Claude Duvalier in a toast after their meeting, Monday, Aug. 15, 1977 in Port Au Prince, Haiti. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Andrew Young is sworn in as United Nations ambassador by Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, as President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter looks on at the White House, Jan. 31, 1977 in Washington. (AP Photo, File)
President Joe Biden, left, and civil rights activist Andrew Young attend an event commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, Monday, July 29, 2024, at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
FILE - Vice President Al Gore, left, along with Billy Payne, right, CEO of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), and co-chair of the ACOG Andrew Young, standing at center, watch a video at the White House, Aug. 2, 1995, during a meeting of the White House Task Force on the Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Denis Paquin, File)
She was among a large group of people who welcomed Young back to the south Georgia city Thursday, the place where he began a career reflected in the aptly named traveling exhibit “The Many Lives of Andrew Young.” The event was held at a local art center not far from historic Bethany Congregational Church, where Young became pastor before joining King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
“The lessons I learned here all lead to Birmingham to Selma to Washington,” Young, 92, told the crowd. “I was already on most of the paths, and you all pushed me the rest of the way up the hill. ... What you have here that you gave to me and my children, I was able to give to the rest of the nation."
The exhibit, created by the National Monuments Foundation, chronicles Young’s life through photographs, memorabilia and his own words. It's based on a book of the same name by Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Ernie Suggs.
Young also served as a pastor in neighboring Grady County before joining the SCLC. While working with King, Young helped organize civil rights marches in Selma and Birmingham, Alabama, and in St. Augustine, Florida. He was with King when the civil rights leader was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.
In 1972, Young was elected to the U.S. House from Georgia’s 5th District, becoming the first Black Georgian sent to Congress since Reconstruction. He served as the United Nations ambassador under former President Jimmy Carter and was the Atlanta mayor from 1982 to 1990.
The Rev. Jeremy Rich, a local pastor who also was a minister at Bethany Congregational Church, spoke highly of Young.
“As a successor of Ambassador Young, but also as a pastor, county commissioner and a public educator, I find myself following in his footsteps in the values of trying to do the most good for the most amount of people,” he said.
In an interview with The Associated Press before the event, Young spoke about today's racial climate as some Republicans inject race into their criticism of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I don't know what they're trying to do. I don't think they know what they're trying to do,” Young said. “We've made so much progress on race and creed and class. Maybe that's too much, that they'd rather have a world run by just one group of people.”
FILE - A federal marshal reads a court order halting a planned voter registration protest as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., right, and fellow marcher Andrew Young, left, look on in Selma, Ala., March 9, 1965. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Civil rights worker Andrew Young, walks ahead as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. hops over a puddle, in front of Rev. Ralph Abernathy, leading hundreds of African Americans to the court house in a voter registration drive in Selma, Ala. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this June 12, 1964 file photo, Andrew Young leans into a police car to talk to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the back seat with a police dog as he is returned to jail in St. Augustine, Fla., after testifying before a grand jury investigating racial unrest in the city. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, left, joins Haiti's President for-life Jean-Claude Duvalier in a toast after their meeting, Monday, Aug. 15, 1977 in Port Au Prince, Haiti. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Andrew Young is sworn in as United Nations ambassador by Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, as President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter looks on at the White House, Jan. 31, 1977 in Washington. (AP Photo, File)
President Joe Biden, left, and civil rights activist Andrew Young attend an event commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, Monday, July 29, 2024, at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
FILE - Vice President Al Gore, left, along with Billy Payne, right, CEO of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), and co-chair of the ACOG Andrew Young, standing at center, watch a video at the White House, Aug. 2, 1995, during a meeting of the White House Task Force on the Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Denis Paquin, File)
BANGKOK (AP) — Search teams in Myanmar recovered more bodies from the ruins of buildings on Friday, a week after a massive earthquake killed more than 3,300 people, as the focus turns toward the urgent humanitarian needs in a country already devastated by a continuing civil war.
United Nations humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, who is also the emergency relief coordinator, arrived Friday in Myanmar in an effort to spur action following the March 28 quake.
Ahead of the visit, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the international community to immediately step up funding for quake victims “to match the scale of this crisis,” and he urged unimpeded access to reach those in need.
“The earthquake has supercharged the suffering with the monsoon season just around the corner,” he said.
Myanmar's military and several key armed resistance groups have all declared ceasefires in the wake of the earthquake to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid.
But the U.N.'s Human Rights Office on Friday accused the military of continuing attacks, claiming there were more than 60 attacks after the earthquake, including 16 since the military announced a temporary ceasefire on Wednesday.
“I urge a halt to all military operations, and for the focus to be on assisting those impacted by the quake, as well as ensuring unhindered access to humanitarian organizations that are ready to support,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. “I hope this terrible tragedy can be a turning point for the country towards an inclusive political solution.”
Announcing its ceasefire, the military also said it would still take “necessary” measures against resistance groups, if they use the ceasefire to regroup, train or launch attacks, and the groups have said they reserved the right to defend themselves.
Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021 from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has turned into a civil war.
The quake worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis, with more than 3 million people displaced from their homes and nearly 20 million in need even before it hit, according to the United Nations.
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military government, said the quake's death toll has reached 3,301, with 4,792 injured and about 221 missing, according to a report on state television MRTV. He is in Bangkok attending a summit meeting of leaders from the Bay of Bengal region.
It is a rare visit for the general, who usually restricts his few foreign trips to allies Russia and China. He and his government are shunned and sanctioned by Western nations for usurping power and their alleged human rights violations in repressing opposition and carrying out a brutal war.
Britain, which had already given $13 million to purchase emergency items like food, water and shelter, pledged an additional $6.5 million in funds to match an appeal from Myanmar's Disasters Emergency Committee, according to the U.K. Embassy in Yangon.
The World Food Program said so far it has reached 24,000 survivors, but was scaling up its efforts to assist 850,000 with food and cash assistance for one month.
Many international search and rescue teams are now on the scene, and eight medical crews from China, Thailand, Japan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Russia were operating in Naypyitaw, according to Myanmar's military-run government. Another five teams from India, Russia, Laos and Nepal and Singapore were helping in the Mandalay region, while teams from Russia, Malaysia and the ASEAN bloc of nations were assisting in the Sagaing region.
The Trump administration has pledged $2 million in emergency aid and sent a three-person team to assess how best to respond given drastic cuts to U.S. foreign assistance.
On Friday, five bodies were recovered from the rubble in the capital Naypyitaw and the second-largest city of Mandalay, near the epicenter of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake March 28, authorities said. The last reported rescue came Wednesday, some 125 hours after the quake struck, when a man was saved from the wreckage of a hotel in Mandalay.
The quake also shook neighboring Thailand, bringing down a high-rise under construction in Bangkok, where recovery work continued Friday. Overall, 22 people have been found dead and 35 injured in Bangkok, primarily from the construction site.
Associated Press Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
Bhutanese medical volunteers look at the chest scan of a patient at a make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
A Bhutan medical volunteer attends to a patient at their make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Military medical volunteers give treatments to a patient at their make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Temporary shelters for patient are seen after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Visitors walk near entrance of Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery, commonly known as the Me Nu Brick Monastery, in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake in Innwa, Tada-U township, Mandalay, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Damaged Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery, commonly known as the Me Nu Brick Monastery, is seen in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake in Innwa, Tada-U township, Mandalay, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Visitors walk near damaged Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery, commonly known as the Me Nu Brick Monastery, in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake in Innwa, Tada-U township, Mandalay, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Damaged buildings are seen in the aftermath of last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Medical volunteers attend to patients at a make-shift tent opened for medical care after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
A soldier works on temporary shelters opened for medical care after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Patients are seen at a make-shift tent opened for medical care after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Bhutan medical volunteers give treatments to a patient at their make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
A Bhutan medical volunteer attends to a patient at their make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Patient are seen at a make-shift tent opened for medical care after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
People work at temporary shelters for people displaced due to the earthquake, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo)
Bhutanese medical volunteers attend to a patient at a make-shift tent after last week's earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo)
Russian medical volunteers give treatment to a patient in their make-shift tent opened as a medical center in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo)
Thai army soldiers lined up for their duty at site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April, 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Morning joggers look at the at site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake, as Thai army soldiers lined up for their duty in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April, 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A rescue office Amman Sutthirat talks to media at site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April, 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A notice board in Thai language shows , center top, number of victims (103) Deceased (15), Injured (9) and Under Tracking (79) at site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April, 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Russian medical volunteers gather near their make-shift tent opened as a medical center in the aftermath of Friday's earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo)
A person watches at site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April, 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
