Impact of Julian Bond's Activism

 A government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies (McClenghen, 2020). Black history month is a big part of our society today and is a historical time that everyone likes to celebrate. Julian bond is a part of black history because he was a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement; he ended up being elected to be the board chairman of the NAACP. His full name is Horace Julian Bond, and the NAACP is a civil rights organization and was created in 1909. Activists have formed it initially in New York City. A reason why it has been created was because of the violence that has been acted out on African Americans. There are over 2,200 branches and about half a million members in the NAACP (editors, NAACP, 2019). Julian bond put forth effort to help create the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as a student in 1960 (501(c)(3) non-profit organization, 1999). The SNCC was mainly created to give more voice in the Civil Rights Movement to young African Americans. It helped with the Freedom Rides that were trying to desegregate buses and in marches (editors, SNCC, 2019).

He was elected to the Georgia House Of Representatives but because of his statements during the Vietnam war, he was barred from taking his seat (501(c)(3) non-profit organization, 1999). Julian bond is known for being an activist who has over 20 years of service in the Georgia General Assembly (501(c)(3) non-profit organization, 1999). He has had many different occupations in his life such as a writer, lecturer, and a teacher. (Hartford, 2002).

Julian Bond was born in Nashville, Tennessee, then when he was 5 years old, him and his family moved to Pennsylvania (NAACP, 2020). His father was an important figure because he was the first African American President of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (NAACP, 2020). Bond has served in congress by serving six terms for 11 years in the Georgia Senate. Bond was even the first African American who was nominated to be Vice President of the United States, but he withdrew his own name because he was too young to be able to serve as the Vice President (NAACP, 2020). His career of teaching has taken him to multiple universities such as American, Drexel, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia (NAACP, 2020). Many books have been written by Julian Bond. Some of the books he has published are a time to speak, a time to act, Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table, The Barnes Bond Connection, etc. (NAACP, 2020).  

Bond has accomplished many things in his life. For example, he received 25 honorary degrees, which are academic degrees a university waives (NAACP, 2020). Since he has these degrees he could use the title of doctor in his name. Getting so many degrees is an amazing feat that anyone would be proud of. Personality traits that he has are that his favorite color is blue, his favorite food that he likes to eat were mashed potatoes and lima beans, summer is his favorite time of the year, and his favorite spot to visit for a vacation is the Gulf Coast of Florida (501(c)(3) non-profit organization, 1999).

Julian Bond was also a president and founder of an early political action committee that helped in the election for rural African American candidates called the Southern Elections Fund, also known as SEF. He has served for many different committees, boards, and groups. Bond has even been the president for most of the groups he has been in during his lifetime (Hartford, 2002). There have been over 60 bills that have came to law while he was a sponsor or co-sponsor of. Some of the bills that have came to law are pioneer sickle cell anemia testing program, authorization of a minority set-aside program for Fulton County, and a program giving low-interest home loans to low income people of Georgia. Bond was able to do this while he was in his service for the Georgia General Assembly. He has helped African Americans get into governmental jobs that took a 2-year fight in legislature and in courts (Hartford, 2002).

Before Julian bond went to the Morehouse college in Atlanta, he graduated from a co-educational Quaker school in Bucks County, PA. he accomplished many things while in Morehouse college such as winning a varsity letter for being a member of the Morehouse swimming team, he helped to create The Pegasus which is a literacy magazine, and lastly, he was an intern for the Time magazine. Another major organization he was apart of and founder is called the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights. He founded it while he was still a student in 1960. Bond dropped out his college to join the staff of a protest paper called The Atlanta Inquirer, which he became the papers managing editor. He left the college a semester short of graduation, but he returned a year later graduating to get his Bachelor of Arts degree (Hartford, 2002).

After his first one-year term in the Georgia House of Representatives, he won a second election to fill his vacant seat. The Georgia house tried to bar him from getting in office but then won a third election. Since the Georgia House of Representatives tried to bar him from his membership, the supreme court ruled it that they have violated Julian’s rights. He has been given multiple rewards. The rewards he has earned during his life time were the 1985 Bill of Rights award, the 1999 James Weldon Johnson Award, a good guy award from the national women’s political caucus, the prestigious national freedom award, and the Eugene V. Debs Award (Hartford, 2002).

Julian bond has had a very impactful history towards black history. He did many things to help bring freedom to African Americans. He will always be a figure everyone will remember for what he has done for the civil rights movement. He passed away on August 15th, 2015, his memory will always live on.

Works Cited

• 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. (1999). TheHistoryMakers. Retrieved from thehistorymakers.org: https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/honorable-julian-bond
• editors, h. (2019, march 13). NAACP. Retrieved from history.com: https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/naacp
• editors, h. (2019, june 7). SNCC. Retrieved from history.com: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/sncc
• Hartford, B. (2002, November). crmvet. Retrieved from crmvet.org: https://www.crmvet.org/vet/bond.htm
• McClenghen, W. A. (2020). Magruder American Government. upper saddle river: pearson.
• NAACP. (2020). NAACP. Retrieved from NAACP: https://www.naacp.org/julian-bond/