Coleman Young II

Coleman Alexander Young II (born Joel Loving) is an American politician from the state of Michigan. He currently serves as state senator for the 1st District, which reaches from Alter Road in Detroit to Gibraltar, Michigan. Previously he served two terms as a Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives. His district then, served east Detroit, Midtown Detroit and Downtown Detroit. He was first elected in 2006. He is the son of the late Coleman A. Young, who served as Detroit Mayor for 20 years (1973–1994) and Annivory Calvert. He was named Joel Loving at birth by his mother and later changed his name to Coleman A. Young, Jr. around the time of his father's death.

Senator Young was raised in California by his mother. He decided to return to Detroit and brought his family with him. Prior to being elected to the State House of Representatives, he worked as an intern for JoAnn Watson, Detroit City Councilwoman, City Council Research & Analysis Division and for a Subway Restaurant. Young attended Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, CA, San Bernardino Valley College and Wayne State University Since July 2005, Young has hosted The "Young Effect," a local Detroit live, call-in talk show concerning current affairs, community advocacy and sports.

Coleman Young

Coleman Alexander Young (May 24, 1918 – November 29, 1997) was an American politician who served as mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 1974 to 1994. Young was the first African-American mayor of Detroit.

Although Young had emerged from the far left element in Detroit, he moved to the right after his election as mayor. He called an ideological truce and gained widespread support from the city's business leaders. The new mayor was energetic in the construction of the Joe Louis Arena, and upgrading the city's mediocre mass transit system. Highly controversial was his assistance to General Motors to build its new "Poletown" plant at the site of the former Dodge Main plant, which involved evicting many long-time residents. It has been argued that he pulled money out of the neighborhood to rehabilitate the downtown business district, because "there were no other options."

Young's tenure as mayor has been blamed in part for the city's ills, especially the exodus of middle class taxpayers to the suburbs, the emergence of powerful drug-dealing gangs, and the rising crime rate. Political scientist James Q. Wilson wrote that, "In Detroit, Mayor Coleman Young rejected the integrationist goal in favor of a flamboyant, black-power style that won him loyal followers, but he left the city a fiscal and social wreck."