Independent Lens | Powerbroker: Whitney Young's Fight for Civil Rights | Trailer | PBS

Whitney Moore Young Jr. (July 31, 1921 – March 11, 1971) was an American civil rights leader. He spent most of his career working to end employment discrimination in the United States and turning the National Urban League from a relatively passive civil rights organization into one that aggressively worked for equitable access to socioeconomic opportunity for the historically disenfranchised.



Watch the full-length episode at http://video.pbs.org/video/2325571478 (US Only) http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/po... Premiering February 11, 2013 on Independent Lens. Check local listings: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/br... Whitney M. Young, Jr. was one of the most celebrated - and controversial - leaders of the civil rights era. The Powerbroker follows his journey from segregated Kentucky to head of the National Urban League. Unique among black leaders, he took the fight directly to the powerful white elite, gaining allies in business and government, including three presidents. Young had the difficult tasks of calming the fears of white allies, relieving the doubts of fellow civil rights leaders, and responding to attacks from the militant Black Power movement.


ONE HANDSHAKE AT A TIME: How Whitney Young Changed America

"One Handshake at a Time: How Whitney Young Changed America" Trailer