HR0712 LRB099 13959 GRL 37963 r
1		HOUSE RESOLUTION
2		WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3		Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Julian
4		Bond, who passed away on August 15, 2015; and
5		WHEREAS, Horace Julian Bond, generally known as Julian
6		Bond, was born in Nashville, Tennessee on January 14, 1940; 5
7		years later, his family moved to Pennsylvania, where his father
8		served as the first African-American President of Lincoln
9		University; and
10		WHEREAS, In 1957, Julian Bond enrolled at Atlanta's
11		Morehouse College, where he helped found The Pegasus, a
12		literary magazine, and interned at Time magazine; while still a
13		student, he became a founding member of the Committee on Appeal
14		for Human Rights; and
15		WHEREAS, Julian Bond led nonviolent student protests
16		against segregation in Atlanta parks, restaurants, and movie
17		theaters; in 1960, he helped form the Student Nonviolent
18		Coordinating Committee in Raleigh, North Carolina; the
19		following year, he left Morehouse to serve as the SNCC's
20		communications director, a position he held for 5 years; he
21		returned to Morehouse a decade later and received a degree in
22		English; and

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1		WHEREAS, In 1965, Julian Bond was voted into the Georgia
2		House of Representatives; however, the Georgia House refused to
3		swear him into his seat because he had endorsed a SNCC
4		statement that decried the war in Vietnam; Martin Luther King,
5		Jr. subsequently organized a protest rally on Bond's behalf; in
6		1966, the case went to the United States Supreme Court, which
7		unanimously ruled in Bond's favor on the basis of freedom of
8		speech; and
9		WHEREAS, Julian Bond was finally able to take his seat in
10		the Georgia House of Representatives in 1967; he served in the
11		Georgia House until 1975 and went on to serve in the Georgia
12		Senate from 1975 to 1986; during his tenure in the state
13		legislature, he wrote over 60 bills that were ratified as law;
14		and
15		WHEREAS, Julian Bond attended the 1968 Democratic National
16		Convention in Chicago, where he was nominated as a
17		vice-presidential candidate; he was the first African American
18		to receive the honor, but withdrew his name because he was not
19		old enough to hold the office according to constitutional
20		guidelines; and
21		WHEREAS, From 1971 to 1979, Julian Bond served as president
22		of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization he also

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1		co-founded; he was president of Atlanta's chapter of the
2		National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
3		before becoming the chairman of the national NAACP, a position
4		he held from 1998 until 2010; and
5		WHEREAS, Julian Bond was a prominent voice in the media; he
6		was a commentator for NBC's Today show, wrote a national
7		newspaper column, and produced poems that have appeared in
8		publications such as The Nation and the New York Times; he was
9		also a professor of history at the University of Virginia and
10		an adjunct professor at American University; therefore, be it
11		RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12		NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
13		mourn the death of Julian Bond and recognize his life,
14		commitments, and achievements; and be it further
15		RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
16		presented to the family of Julian Bond as an expression of our
17		sympathy.