-
A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION
21-119
COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
October 6, 2015
To celebrate and acknowledge the accomplishments, contributions, and achievements of Julian Bond, a champion of civil rights, civil servant, American University professor, and District of Columbia resident.
WHEREAS, Julian Bond was one of the original leaders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the most important organizations of the American civil rights movement, whose first chair was the late Marion S. Barry Jr.;
WHEREAS, Julian Bond was the committee’s communications director, working to bring media attention to discrimination in the South and organizing voter registration drives in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas;
WHEREAS, Julian Bond was one of the first African Americans elected to the Georgia House of Representatives following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, both of which increased African Americans’ access to the political process;
WHEREAS, despite Julian Bond’s fair election, members of the Georgia House of Representatives petitioned to prohibit him from joining the House due to his vocal opposition to the Vietnam War claiming that, with such beliefs, Julian Bond could not sincerely swear his allegiance to the Georgia or United States constitutions;
WHEREAS, in Bond v Floyd, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Julian Bond and unanimously ordered the Georgia House to seat him on the grounds that a state could not limit a legislator’s capacity to express his views on local or national policy;
WHEREAS, in 1975, Julian Bond went on to be elected for 6 terms in the Georgia Senate, in which he served until 1987, andduring his tenure in the state legislature, Bond authored over 60 bills that were enacted into law;
WHEREAS, at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Julian Bond was nominated to be the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, the first African American to receive this honor, but withdrew because, in his late 20s, he would not be old enough to assume the office of President if that became necessary;
WHEREAS, Julian Bond was one of the founding members of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil-rights litigation, serving as its first president from 1971 to 1979 and remaining a member of its board of directors and president emeritus until his death in August of 2015;
WHEREAS, Julian Bond was elected and served as chairman of the NAACP from 1998 until 2010;
WHEREAS, as an early proponent of same-sex marriage, Julian Bond was among the first veterans of the civil-rights movement to draw a link between racial discrimination of the 1960s and the drive for marriage equality; he marched and served as a headline speaker in the 2009 National Equality March in the District;
WHEREAS, Julian Bond was a longtime, valued member of our Chevy Chase community, participating in local community meetings, frequenting local businesses in the area, and greeting neighbors with both kindness and consideration;
WHEREAS, friends of Julian Bond describe him as a kind man who embraced strangers and cared about all people; someone who was liked and respected by individuals of all races because he desired nothing but fairness and equality for all; someone who, when opponents disagreed with him, always lent an attentive ear; and
WHEREAS, upon Julian Bond’s death, current NAACP Chair, Roslyn Brock, eulogized Mr. Bond saying, “The grateful citizen heirs of the civil and human rights legacy of Julian Bond can neither be counted nor confined to a generation. Many of the most characteristically American freedoms enjoyed by so many Americans today were made real because of the lifelong sacrifice and service of Julian Bond.”.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “Julian Bond Recognition Resolution of 2015”.
Sec. 2. The District of Columbia is grateful for Julian Bond’s dedication to the District and the betterment of the livelihoods of those less fortunate.
Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the District of Columbia Register.
