In Recognition of Dr. Quentin Young
WHEREAS, Dr. Quentin Young is a highly influential leader, activist, and medical doctor, known throughout Chicago and the United States for his public service and staunch commitment to human rights; AND
WHEREAS, Dr. Young has made it his life's mission to not only provide quality health care and advice to countless individuals, but also to advocate for social justice, civil rights, and equality in health care, specifically in the form of a single-payer health care system; AND
WHEREAS, Dr. Young celebrated his 90th birthday this past September. Though retired from private practice, he still serves two groups he co-founded as the Chairman ofthe Health and Medicine Policy Research Group and National Director ofthe Physicians for National Health Program, as well as continues his mission working for civil and human rights; AND
WHEREAS, Dr. Young is a native Chicagoan, and after serving in the military began his career in this fine city. He completed his undergraduate education at University of Chicago in 1943, obtained his medical degree from Northwestern in 1948, and completed his residency at Cook County Hospital in 1952; AND
WHEREAS, Dr. Young has provided medical service as the Chairman ofthe Department of Internal Medicine at Cook County Hospital and as the Senior Attending Physician at Michael Reese Hospital, as well as running his own private practice in Hyde Park, treating the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Mayor Harold Washington, Chicago author Studs Terkel, and Governor Pat Quinn. Furthermore he has taught as a Clinical Professor of Preventative Medicine and Community Health at the University of Illinois Medical Center since 1952, and is the Medical Contributor on WBEZ Chicago Public Radio; AND
WHEREAS, over the span of his life and career, Dr. Young has expertly practiced medicine while still committing himself to fighting for the civil rights movement. He marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr., and acted as his personal physician while he was in Chicago. He also traveled to southern states during the civil rights movement, providing emergency medical care for civil rights workers and poor, rural citizens; AND
WHEREAS, Dr. Young, as a founder ofthe Committee to End Discrimination in Chicago Medical Institutions, was instrumental in desegregating Chicago Hospitals. He also helped launch the Medical Committee for Human Rights in 1964; an organization of doctors and medical professionals devoted to promoting civil rights, reaching out to minorities, and improving the delivery of health services in the U.S. Dr. Young acted as the National Chairman and helped guide this organization that became known as the medical arm of the civil rights movement; AND
WHEREAS, Dr. Young has been named by Governor Quinn as the state's official Public Health Advocate, and has turned his activism efforts toward the health care system. Dr. Young has been speaking, educating, and advocating for health care reform in the United States, specifically for the transformation to a single-payer national health program.
WHEREAS, filmmakers Al Nowakowski, Cat Jarboe, and Jeff Bivens are currently shooting a documentary entitled "The Good Doctor Young", that chronicles Dr. Young's career and fight for social justice;
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this 11th day of December, 2013, do hereby commemorate and recognize Dr. Quentin Young for his life-long service in the realm of social justice, civil rights, and health care and medicine.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Dr. Quentin Young.