29th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast Celebration
February 14, 2003
"Faces at the
Bottom of the Well:
Nightmare of Reality vs. Dr. King's Dream"
Speaker
Julian Bond
Chairman of the Board of the NAACP
Civil Rights Activist
Distinguished Professor at American University, Washington, DC
Professor of History at The University of Virginia
From his student days as a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to his current position as Chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Julian Bond has been a leader in the movements for civil rights, economic justice, and peace.
As an activist who has faced jail for his convictions, as a veteran of more than 20 years of service in the Georgia General Assembly, as a writer and lecturer, and as a university professor, he has been on the cutting edge of social change since 1960.
Bond was a founder of Atlanta's student sit-in and anti-segregation organizationwhile a student at Morehouse College, as well as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). As SNCC's Communications Director, Bond was active in protests and registration campaigns throughout the South.Elected in 1965 to the Georgia House of Representatives, Bond was prevented from taking his seat by members who objected to his opposition to the Vietnam War.
He was re-elected to his own vacant seat and unseated again, and seated only after a third election and a unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court He was co-chair of a challenge delegation from Georgia to the 1968 Democratic Convention. The challengers were successful in unseating Georgia's regular Democrats, and Bond was nominated for Vice President but had to declinebecause he was too young.In the Georgia Senate, Bond became the first black chair of the Fulton County Delegation, the largest and most diverse in the upper house, and chair of the Consumer Affairs Committee. During his legislative tenure, he was sponsor of the co-sponsor of more than 60 bills, which became law.
Bond is a commentator on America's Black Forum, the oldest black-owned show in television syndication. His poetry and articles have appeared in numerous publications. He has narrated numerous documentaries, including the Academy Award-winning “A Time For Justice” and the prize-winning and critically acclaimed series Eyes on the Prize.
As Chairman of the NAACP Board, Bond heads the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the country. The holder of twenty honorary degrees, he is a Distinguished Professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and a Professor in history at the University of Virginia
Course Topics Include:
2003: A Race Odyssey
Civil Rights: Now and Then
Affirmative Action: The Just Spoils of a Righteous War
Black-Jewish Relations: Past and Present Tense
Crossing the Color Line: From Rhythm 'n Blues to Rock 'n Roll
