Horace Julian Bond
(January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015)
We at Highlander would like to give an extra special honor and remembrance to the life and legacy of Julian Bond. Tennessee born, Bond was a co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Chairman of the NAACP, a four time Georgia State Congressman, and the first President of the Southern Poverty Law Center. His tireless work is a powerful story of passion and justice. We will remember his impact, not only to Civil Rights, but his work throughout his life knowing that, though steps have been made, there are still many more to be taken.
His work extended to issues of the LGBTQ community, women, immigrants, and all disenfranchised people in this country. His Highlander connection started during the formation of SNCC in 1960 with the appearance of another fallen great, Guy Carawan. At that meeting, Julian first heard the song “We Shall Overcome.”
Bond leaves behind a legacy that is beautifully carried forward by young people in this current movement.
As he said, “The Civil Rights Movement didn’t begin in Montgomery and it didn’t end in the 1960s. It continues on to this very minute.”
Jeanne Theoharis, a writer and friend of Highlander, wrote a piece about Bond in the Nation and you can click here http://www.thenation.com/article/julian-bond-built-coalitions-practiced-solidarity-and-showed-us-the-future/
Thank you Julian Bond, and Rest in Power,
Highlander Research and Education Center