Profile of the Day: Julian Bond

Posted August 21, 2015 by Amanda | No Comment

Julian Bond

Iconic Civil Rights activist Julian Bond passed away on August 15 this year at the age of 75. One of the most prominent leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1960’s, Bond remained a champion of equal rights throughout his life.

He was born Horace Julian Bond on January 14, 1940 in Nashville, Tennessee to Julia Agnes Washington and Horace Mann Bond. While a student at Morehouse College during the early 1960’s, Bond helped establish the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which would become one of the most important organizations of the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1965, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. However, the state congressional body refused to let him take his seat due to his public opposition to the Vietnam War. It took a U.S. Supreme Court ruling for him to be allowed to take his seat. Bond went on to serve four terms in the House and six terms in the Senate.

His family is to honor his wishes tomorrow by scattering his ashes in the Gulf of Mexico in a private ceremony. In a statement released to the public, the family also invites the public to honor his memory by spreading flower petals in a body of water at 2pm CDT on Saturday, August 22.

RIP Julian Bond.