I remember Julian Bond. In the summer of 1966, I was in a workshop he taught on techniques to manage demonstrators committing nonviolent civil disobedience, so that their resistance was completely passive. This makes it obvious to onlookers that the police violence against us was the only violence. The three things about him that stood out to me were that he was an intellectual giant, he was a compassionate soul, and he made us understand that what we had to say was important to him. His life makes him worthy of mourning from us all.
Here is his early history.
Born: January 14, 1940
Nashville, Tennessee
African American civil rights leader, political activist, and politician
J ulian Bond is a civil rights leader, political activist, and politician who has spent most of his life fighting for equality in America. He has remained committed to the causes he believes in since joining the civil rights movement as a young college student.
Family and education
Horace Julian Bond, born on January 14, 1940, in Nashville, Tennessee, was the descendant of several generations of black educators and preachers. When his father Horace Mann Bond became president of Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania, the family moved into an environment that was mostly white. While in Oxford, the elder Bond caused a stir because of his protests against segregated facilities (people being required to use different facilities based on their race) and white attitudes of racial superiority. Young Julian, however, adjusted relatively easily to his new environment. He attended elementary school with white children and won the sixth grade award for being the brightest student in the class. He was sent to George School, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for his high-school education. He encountered a few instances of racial prejudice (being judged because of his race) during these years, but on the whole he adjusted well to the academic environment—although his grades were only average.
His father later became president of Atlanta University and the family moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Despite rumors of racial unrest, Bond decided to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta after his graduation from high school. Bond started college in 1957.
Early involvement in the civil rights movement
At Morehouse, Bond became the coordinator and spokesman for civil rights demonstrations. He started an Atlanta student civil rights group called the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights.
In 1960 Ella Baker (1903–1986), secretary of the civil rights organization known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) invited students to meet at Shaw University, in Raleigh, North Carolina, to coordinate their efforts. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968), president of the SCLC, and Reverend James Lawson Jr., a believer in nonviolent resistance, spoke to the students and invited them to join the SCLC. Instead of joining the SCLC, several hundred students, including Bond, decided to form their own organization. They called their organization the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Bond was appointed communications director for the SNCC. He kept this position from 1960 until 1966. He became very active in the SNCC, dropped out of college, and did not complete his degree at Morehouse until 1971.
Inserted from <Notable Biographies>
Click through for the remainder of his history. It’s worth the read.
I have seen several video tributes to him from which to choose, but I found one of the shortest the most compelling.
Julian Bond left us a worthy example for all activists to follow. Human rights are civil rights and we must all work together to defend and extend the the rights we all share.
21 Responses to “Julian Bond: American Hero”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Excellent HRC Remembers short video and beautiful photo of Julian Bond Introduction above.
Democracy Now!
Julian Bond (1940-2015): Remembering Civil Rights Freedom Fighter Who Chaired NAACP, Co-founded SNCC
Text & Video:
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/17/julian_bond_1940_2015_remembering_civil
Yes. Because Dr. Horace Julian Bond, and the NAACP, have guts. Real courage. Those black people, and there are some (too many, but then one is too many") who are opposed to gay rights are in that place from fear, even if unconsciously. They fear that if they don't put down gays, that they will be at the bottom of everyone. So they try to push gays to the bottom to create a buffer zone for themselves. Very sad. Very unnecessary.
(If anyone is talking to God, BTW, could you ask him why he took Dr. Bond and not the Rev Robertson?)
He should be honored and remembered! What a great man and peaceful man!
We have lost a giant.
I was absolutely flabbergasted that the linked Encyclopedia of World Biography didn't even mention Julian Bond's ties to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Mr. Bond was instrumental in founding SPLC and served as its first President. At his death he was an Emeritus member of its Board of Directors.
That is a surprise indeed–sounds like someone didn't do as much research as they should have. I love the Teaching Tolerance curriculum SPLC developed and have shared it with many teachers who usually also have used it in their classrooms.
I should have seen that. I think it'ds a case of bering to obvious. You're right!
Thank you for another excellent contribution to my education on American history, untouched by Republican rewriting and addaption. Mr Bond comes across as an exceptionally courageous and intelligent man whose contribution to the Civil Rights Movement have been invaluable and whose contributions to the re-awakening of America to the issues of the Movement will be sadly missed.
Thanks for the petition AniMae [on Care2]:
PETITION;
Honor Civil Rights Hero Julian Bond
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/960/513/489/honor-civil-rights-hero-julian-bond/
RIP Dr. Bond–a man who made a huge difference in the lives of others and for others.
Petition in AniMae's comment box in C2 signed.
Thanks to jla for including this C2 petition in PP.
You are welcome Jim
Petition signed.
Thanks Edie
Thanks JL for the petition. Signed
Signed also. Not that this matters, but he was also a person whose physical appearance matched his spirit. What a gorgeous man!
Thanks Joanne
Signed with thanks to both!
Thanks TC for both signing and letting me know it was cool to repost it here.
Thanks, TC. He was a true Civil Rights hero.
One can see his compassion in his eyes as a young man . . . how did you put it . . . a compassionate soul . . . but also as an elder statesman. His eyes remind me of my paternal grandfather's, the grandfather to whom I was very close.
Wikipedia has an excellent piece. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Bond
There re some things we often do not hear about, but TC, is it likely that Mahatma Gandhi was an inspiration to him with his non violent protest work?
Dr Julian Bond is someone to be admired, to be emulated, and to be celebrated.
Actually, he discussed it in the workshop I was in, and as with MLK, Ghandi's nonviolent disobedience was his example.
Thanks all. Considering that I had examples like Bind, Innes and King, perhaps I am ho;ding today's activists to too high a standard.