Julian Bond - Civil Rights Activist

[saraphen]

Civil rights activist and politician Julian Bond was born on January 14, 1940, in Nashville, Tennessee. He and his family moved to Pennsylvania, where his father, Horace Mann Bond, was appointed president of Lincoln University.

He was one of the founders, in 1960, while a student at Morehouse College, of the Atlanta student sit-in and anti-segregation organization, and of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). As SNCC's Communications Director, Bond was active in protests and registration campaigns throughout the South.

Bond was first elected in 1965 to a one year term in the Georgia House of Representatives. Members of the House voted not to seat him because of his outspoken opposition to the war in Vietnam. Bond was elected two more times before the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Georgia House had violated Bond's rights in refusing him his seat.

During his service in the Georgia General Assembly, Bond was sponsor or co sponsor of more than 60 bills that became law, and he organized the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, then the largest such group in the nation.

He was elected to the Georgia Senate in 1974. When he left the state senate in January 1987, Bond had been elected to public office more times than any other black Georgian, living or dead, ending his tenure only when an unsuccessful congressional race in 1986 prevented him from seeking re election to the Senate.

In 1968, Bond was co chairman of the Georgia Loyal National Delegation to the Democratic Convention. The Loyalists, an insurgent group, were successful in unseating the hand picked regulars. Bond was nominated for Vice President of the United States, the first black person to be so nominated by a major political party, though he withdrew his name because he was too young to serve.

Bond continues his tradition of activism as chairman of the NAACP. He also serves as president emeritus of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Bond is a distinguished scholar in residence at American University in Washington, D.C., and a faculty member in the History Department at the University of Virginia.

He has served since 1998 as Chairman of the Board of the NAACP, the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the United States.

He is a commentator on America's Black Forum, the oldest black-owned show in television syndication. His poetry and articles have appeared in numerous publications. He has narrated numerous documentaries, including the Academy Award winning "A Time For Justice" and the prize-winning and critically acclaimed series "Eyes On The Prize."

[Corals]

Very interesting information. Interesting that he was also nominated for Vice President.