Julian Bond with Rep Rangel
Tributes continue to come in for Julian Bond, the civil rights icon and founding President of the Southern Poverty Law Center and Chairman Emeritus of the NAACP, who died this past weekend.
Congressman Charles B. Rangel, who represents the 13th Congressional District of New York, said, “I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of my dear friend Dr. Julian Bond, a man who lived his life dedicated to advancing our nation’s foremost guiding principle: equality and justice for all. I had the greatest privilege of having marched alongside him to promote civil rights –including most recently at the One Nation Rally in 2010 and the March for Immigration Reform in 2013.”
Rangel added, “From his work as a student leader during the 1960’s to his service in the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate, Julian was a giant in the fight for freedom. Later, as founding President of the Southern Poverty Law Center and Chairman Emeritus of the NAACP, he continued his dedication by educating younger generations about the history of civil rights in America. Julian spent his lifetime in public service calling for equal rights for everyone, and he will forever be revered as an advocate, activist and a devoted champion who fought to give power to the voiceless. While we all mourn the loss of a great leader and a remarkable man, we can take solace in the fact that his life’s work made a difference for all Americans. Though Julian may have left us, his legacy will live on.”
The National Action Network, in a statement released by its president, Rev. Al Sharpton, said, ”National Action Network (NAN) mourns the loss of civil rights leader and former NAACP board chairman Julian Bond, a trailblazer for equality and inclusion. As one who came out of the immediate generation after him, I grew up admiring and studying the work of Julian Bond and the country has lost a champion for human rights. The work of Mr. Bond will be missed but not forgotten as we march forward for civil rights.”
Meanwhile, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in a statement said, the organization was “saddened by the passing of civil rights champion Julian Bond, founder and former president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, former board chairman of the NAACP, activist, lawmaker, author, and an original leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.”
“Mr. Bond was a stalwart and visionary leader who worked tirelessly for the cause of civil and human rights nationwide,” the organization added.
Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), said: ”This is a particularly poignant moment for AHF because Mr. Bond delivered an inspiring keynote speech in May 2013 in Cleveland for AHFs Keep the Promise on AIDS March. For those of you who were fortunate enough to hear him that day, you know that he was a champion of freedom for all people. He was an early and strong supporter of LGBT rights. In a world of screaming narcissism he had a strong, but strangely soft-spoken voice. He came to prominence in the ’60s as a young African American legislator in Georgia; then as the head of the NAACP; and he then spent his entire career giving voice to the voiceless. Julian Bond – we celebrate your life.”
Congressman Steve Cohen, of Tennessee, said, “Julian Bond was a hero, an advisor, and a dear friend of mine who always spoke the truth and forged a path for many in the ongoing fight for justice and progress. I was lucky to meet him as a Vanderbilt student and even luckier that he and his wife Pam accepted me as their friend in the 1980s when I was a State Senator. I was fortunate to have him as a friend, and I extend my condolences to Pam and his children. Julian led a phenomenal life and the world is diminished by his passing.”
Jumaane D. Williams, a New York City Councilmember said, “Mr. Bond’s brilliance, wit, and steadfast devotion to social justice lives on through his family, his legacy as a teacher and legislator, and his published works, including a book of essays titled A Time to Speak, a Time to Act, published in 1972. It is my hope that we can celebrate the life of Mr. Bond by fighting for justice with a renewed vigor, so that we may continue to change this country for the better, as he did. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time.”
