Julian Bond, 1940-2015

Posted by sallybrown

"He advocated not just for African-Americans, but for every group, indeed every person subject to oppression and discrimination because he recognized the common humanity in us all." Goodbye to Horace Julian Bond, freedom fighter and lifetime champion of civil rights.

Bond co-founded the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Community, served as the president of the Southern Poverty Law Center at its founding, and led the NAACP for a decade.

"Bond was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1965, but his white colleagues in the House refused to let him take his seat because of his opposition to the Vietnam war. A year later, the Supreme Court accused the legislature of violating his freedom of speech, and ordered it to seat him."

Bond went on to serve for 20 years. He was a public opponent of the Vietnam War and a public supporter of the fights for women's rights and gay rights. He taught a generation of college students the history of the civil rights movement, including at American University, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia.

SPLC Statement from Morris Dees.
New York Times.
Washington Post.