Julian Bond, a former chairman for NAACP and a civil rights activist, passed away at the age of 75 on Saturday.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bond had been ill before he passed away at his home in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Bond was a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the ‘70s and had narrated documentaries that included Eyes on the Prize. Bond also had a role in Richard Pryor’s Greased Lightning.
Born on Jan. 14, 1940, Bond was a student at Atlanta’s Morehouse College in 1960 when he began working for civil rights after the sit-ins began in the South. In working for the SNCC, he helped to communicate with the North in regards to the movement.
He was also made famous when he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1965, but was denied a seat since he did not support the Vietnam War. However, a lawsuit brought the attention of the Supreme Court, who agreed his freedom of speech had been violated. Bond had also been considered as a candidate for vice president, but he declined since he was he was below the age in which he could run.
The Southern Poverty Law Center released a statement regarding Bond’s passing. He had served as their first president during the 1970s. Co-founder Morris Dees wrote, “the country has lost one of its most passionate and eloquent voices for the cause of justice.”
His wife, Pamela Horowitz, along with five children and his two siblings, survives him.
The NAACP mourns the passing of Chairman Julian Bond, civil rights titan and our brother. May he rest in eternal peace.
— NAACP (@NAACP) August 16, 2015
There has been a critical error on your website.