2026 is a year that is finding more recognition for the historic contributions of Detroit’s first Black mayor, Coleman A. Young.
The Coleman A. Young Statue Initiative and the Coleman A. Young Foundation announced that $1,245,000 has been raised to date to in the ongoing effort to honor Detroit’s first Black and longest-serving mayor with a statue in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall Collection and a companion statue in Detroit, marking the first state-sanctioned, dual-statue tribute in the nation’s history.
The Initiative is raising $2 million to support the statue’s creation and placement. All funds left over after costs are met are donated to Coleman A. Young Foundation, Mayor Young’s lasting legacy, to strengthen its mission to develop leadership among Detroit youth through scholarships, mentoring and guidance, and other supports for their personal growth.
The Michigan Chronicle’s Sam Robinson noted that “Statues of two notable figures from each state are placed throughout the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington, D.C. Mayor Young’s statue would join a select group of Black leaders honored in the National Statuary Hall Collection. In 2013, longtime Detroit resident and Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks became the first Black person to have a full-length statue in Statuary Hall.”
“This announcement comes with extraordinary momentum already behind our campaign to honor Mayor Young’s place in our nation’s history,” said Marvin Beatty, board chair of the Coleman A. Young Foundation and former deputy fire commissioner for Mayor Young. “Our supporters have helped turn a vision into a tangible reality. Today, we celebrate that progress while inviting the community to help complete this historic effort, and to invest in the next generation of Detroiters who will carry Mayor Young’s legacy forward.”
Continued fundraising will support completion of the statue initiative and will provide support for “REAL Skills: The Long Game,” the Foundation’s initiative to expand youth opportunity through AI-powered financial literacy and skilled-trades development programs, as well as CAYF’s college persistence programming.
In addition to the statue, author Wilbur C. Rich recently released a new book, Coleman Young and Detroit Politics: From Social Activist to Power Broker. The book combines a biographical account of this powerful and fascinating political figure with in-depth political analysis; Rich outlines the basic strategy underlying Young’s approach to policymaking and traces the economic changes in the city before and after Young’s rise to power. Rich examines Young’s role in three key policy areas: affirmative action, economic redevelopment, and the city’s fiscal crises.
“Mayor Young’s legacy has always belonged to Detroit. Now we have an opportunity to share that story with the nation while preserving it here at home,” said Khary Turner, executive director of the Coleman A. Young Foundation. “For generations who may not know his story, this initiative is an invitation to understand his leadership, recognize its continuing influence and see how that legacy lives on through the Foundation’s work today.”
Michigan Chronicle contributor Tracey Pearson of the Kresge Foundation wrote, “Young established the foundation in 1982. Since then, it has helped more than 500 Detroit students’ access and graduate from colleges and universities, while more than 3,000 Detroit-area youth have participated in its REAL Skills youth development program.”
One of the Young Foundation’s scholarship alumni, Arthur Harrington, who is currently in his final year at Wayne State University Law School, recently told an audience, “A statue can preserve a man’s image,” Harrington said, “but only our actions can preserve his legacy.”
To learn more or contribute to the statue initiative and its next chapter, visit the Coleman A. Young Foundation’s website.