Opinion: A convention Atlanta most richly deserves

As Democrats celebrate the encouraging results of the 2022 midterms and look ahead to the2024 presidential election, it is my profound hope that the party chooses Atlanta as the site of the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

With Sen. Raphael Warnock’s re-election this month, the political pundits of our day are now proclaiming that the state of Georgia has firmly established itself as the political epicenter of America. The designation, while new to a generation of politicos, is a familiar one for those of us lucky enough to have grown a few gray hairs.

The pulpit from which Sen. Warnock preaches on Sundays was once occupied by my friend and mentor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. From that very pulpit and from the streets of Atlanta, from Selma to Montgomery, and from Birmingham to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D,C., Martin spoke to the conscience of our nation.

His words, his philosophy and his political acumen were fundamentally molded by the community that raised him. By the city that served as the cradle of the movement. By Atlanta.

Our city rose from the ashes of the confederacy to become the hub of the Civil Rights Movement and now the cultural and economic engine of Black America and a model of multicultural success. Our city thrives today because it embraces its diversity and rejects the forces of division and hate. Joe Biden carried Georgia’s 16 electoral votes and Warnock and Jon Ossoff represent this great state in the U.S. Senate for precisely the same reason.

Throughout his 2020 campaign, President Biden reminded us that the election was more than a choice between two candidates; it was a battle for the soul of our nation. We would either continue down a dark path that increasingly heeded our country’s worst impulses or appeal to the better angels of our nature and choose to build what Martin referred to as the Beloved Community.

In Atlanta, the choice was clear. We answered the call with the same vigor that we have brought to every challenge we’ve faced throughout our history. With the vigor that we brought to the movement, to the Centennial Olympic Games, and to every occasion we have had to mold this community into a world-class city that offers opportunity and a shot at prosperity to every single person who calls this region home.

In State Farm Arena alone, over 40,000 Atlantans cast their ballots after the Atlanta Hawks and Fulton County graciously agreed to convert our marquee basketball facility into the state’s largest voting precinct amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In a state decided by just over 11,000 votes, providing a safe place for Fulton County residents to cast their ballots in-person proved to be a civic commitment of the highest magnitude.

Beyond the mere politics, those 40,000 votes are emblematic of what makes this city truly special. When it comes to taking on the biggest tasks and the toughest challenges, Atlanta always rises to the occasion. The bonds that tie our civic community together are stronger than any city in America — it’s evident in the leading role the city has played throughout some of the most important moments in modern American history.

So in 2024 when we write the next chapter of American history, let Atlanta be the stage where Democrats come together to build the Beloved Community: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Andrew Young is a world-renowned civil rights leader whose work is widely credited with helping change the course of history. He has been a mayor of Atlanta, a U.S. Congressman, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and a counselor to presidents.