John B. Breaux: “Andrew Jackson once observed that ``one man with courage makes a majority.'' That sentiment certainly applies to the…”

“Andrew Jackson once observed that ``one man with courage makes a majority.'' That sentiment certainly applies to the late A.Z. Young, a great American and a great Louisianian whose life embodied the notion that certain principles are indeed worth risking your life or your livelihood. A.Z., who died last year, was that kind of man. In 1968, as the leader of an historic civil rights march from Bogalusa to Baton Rouge, he put shoe leather to his belief that Thomas Jefferson was thinking of someone just like him when he wrote that, ``All men are created equal.'' And because of A.Z., and brave people like him, we are now raising a generation of young Americans--black and white--who can barely comprehend the stories their parents and grandparents tell them about the days of Jim Crow and segregation. The advances in civil rights that began more than 25 years ago did not simply occur spontaneously. We know that great social changes--like civil rights--do not just happen. Brave, visionary men and women make them happen. A.Z. Young made things happen. He was honest, brave, and an inspiration to an entire generation of Louisianians. He was, quite simply, an indispensable man--someone who made a real difference in lives of hundreds of his fellow men, black and white.”