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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2015)
Opinion Saddened by Death of Leader Julian Bond T he news this weekend that Julian Bond passed away at 75 saddened me deeply. America has lost a true, and still vital, champion for justice. Pres- ident Obama, hailing Bond as a hero and a friend, noted that “Julian Bond helped change this country for the better. And what better way to be remembered than that.” At a very young age, Bond helped forge the emerging Civil Rights Move- ment, and was in many ways a founding father of the New South we now see still in formation. In 1957, as a student at Morehouse, son of a college president, varsity swimmer, head of the literary magazine, intern for Time magazine, he was on the path to success. But the success he chose was to make history, not money. He was arrested af- ter organizing some of the first student demonstrations to desegregate Atlanta’s lunch counters, parks and theaters. Real- izing that young people could take risks too costly for adults with families, at 20, he helped found SNCC, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. He became its secretary and head of its communications; he was seen as orga- nized, level headed and eloquent. Julian was ahead of most in the move- ment for understanding the big picture. He realized that civil rights could not be achieved without economic rights, and that economic rights would not advance if America kept throwing resources and lives into war abroad. He became an ear- ly outspoken critic of the Vietnam war. After the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, Julian led voter registration drives. At the remarkable age of 25, he was elected to the Georgia State House. The sitting legislators demanded that he repudiate his opposition to the Vietnam Jesse Jackson Rainbow PUSH Coalition War. When he refused, they refused to seat him. Three times his constituents reelected him, three times the House de- nied him his seat. Finally, the Supreme Court ruled their actions unconstitution- al. In January 1967, Bond took his seat, and served in the House and Senate for the next two decades. By that time he was a national hero for having stood on principle at the cost of his political career. In the embittered 1968 Chicago Democratic Presidential Convention, Bond led an insurgent Geor- gia delegation and was stood to second the nomination of Eugene McCarthy for president. With the convention floor in bedlam and demonstrations raging outside the hall, Bond was nominated as vice pres- ident, a symbolic nomination (he was only 27 and the constitutionally required age is 35) “about the wave of the future.” Bond served as legislator, scholar, teacher and leader. He was a founder and first president of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He taught at the University of Virginia and lectured widely, receiv- ing more than 30 honorary degrees. He chaired the NAACP for 11 years. He experienced first hand the slight and shackles of segregation – and organized to end them. He knew first hand the sup- pression of the right to vote and helped build a movement to challenge that. Page 6 August 19, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner The Legacy of Julian Bond T here is an old Afri- can proverb that says, “The spirit of a free- dom warrior will never die in the enduring life of the village, yet that valued spirit will be passed on to future generations.” Julian Bond was a free- dom fighter. He was a gallant lead- er-warrior for freedom, jus- tice and equality. And his spirit will never die. The National Newspa- per Publishers Association (NNPA) family pauses to mourn the passing of civil rights leader Julian Bond. But we also know that it is important to highlight those lasting lessons from Bond’s legacy that apply to today’s struggle for freedom. Brother Bond was a per- sonal friend and colleague in the Civil Rights Movement during the past 50 or more Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. NNPA President and CEO were central to Bond’s sense of youth leadership devel- opment. SNCC was militant and outspoken, but SNCC was well-structured. It was not a spontaneous, loosely-orga- nized, student-run organiza- tion. One of the reasons why Bond and SNCC were effec- tive in the 1960s is because of their internal discipline and national organizational structure. Of course, today — with the Internet and social me- dia being the preferred ident Barack Obama stated, “Justice and equality was the mission that spanned his life – from his leadership of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, to his founding role with the Southern Poverty Law Center, to his pioneering service in the Georgia legis- lature and his steady hand at the helm of the N.A.A.C.P. …… Julian Bond helped change this country for the better. And what better way to be remembered than that?” Denise Rolark Barnes, Chairperson of the NNPA and publisher of The Wash- ington Informer, observed that Bond’s “lifelong ded- ication and commitment to political and economic empowerment, journalistic diversity and integrity, and educational equality served as a beacon for others to fol- He used his pen to stir the consciousness of millions of people about the plight of Black America and others who cried out for equal justice years. He was not only a skillful and articulate orator, Bond was also a great writer not unlike W.E. B DuBois and James Baldwin. Julian was a penetrating columnist for the NNPA as he used his pen to stir the consciousness of millions of people about the plight of Black America and others who cried out for equal justice. Bond was one of the ear- ly leaders and cofounders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and worked tire- lessly to lead young Afri- can American student lead- ers across the nation to the forefront of the civil rights movement. He was a More- house College student ac- tivist who helped ignite the Atlanta Student Movement. SNCC successfully shaped how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Con- ference (SCLC) saw the value of African American college students in the van- guard of the freedom move- ment. “I tell young people to prepare themselves as best they can for a world that grows more challenging ev- ery day – get the best edu- cation they can and couple that education with real-life experience in social justice work,” said Bond, the son of a famous educator, Horace Mann Bond. The question for today’s generation of African Amer- ican youth is: What can be learned from Julian Bond’s living legacy and applied to the Black Lives Matter movement? The importance of having structure, stated principles and organization means of communication among young leaders today in the Black Lives Matter movement — one challenge is how to build a sustain- able student- and youth-led movement for justice, one with an effective structure and infrastructure. I am confident in and admire the progress that the Black Lives Matters movement has already achieved. Learn- ing from the past helps to avoid difficulties of the past. On Bond’s passing, Pres- low. His presence and voice will be sorely missed, but his words remain true for the NNPA: ‘Good things don’t come to those who wait. They come to those who agitate!’” We will all strive to keep the living spirit of Julian Bond’s legacy alive in our current and continuing struggle for justice, equality and empowerment. May his valued and respected spirit be passed on to future gen- erations of freedom fighters. Community Business Directory DENTAL CARE We Care Edward E. Ward , D.M.D., MAGD, MBA Master Academy of General Dentistry Interstate Dental Clinic 24-Hour Care Line Weekend Appointments On Bus Line 5835 N. 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