Julian Bond 1940-2015

In an age of easy cynicism, Julian Bond remained an inspiration to those who who seek to make America a better place through their involvement in public service.

Bond was a prominent civil rights activist from his college days to the time of his death this weekend at age 75.

He was one of the founding members in 1960 of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). SNCC sought to get students directly involved in the struggle for civil rights.

In 1971 he co-founded the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The SPLC is best known for its work in monitoring hate groups. Bond also served as head of the NAACP from 1998 to 2010.

Julian Bond understood that direct involvement in the political process was essential for progress. He was an active member of Georgia’s state legislature from 1966 to 1986.

In his later years, Bond became an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights.

People make the time for things which they consider important. Julian Bond devoted decades to improving the lives of his fellow Americans.

The PBS NewsHour on Sunday spoke with several people who had worked closely with Julian Bond.

Sir Terry on Becoming Human

Sir Terry Pratchett, creator of the magnificent Discworld and its wonderfully diverse cast of characters, has consistently demonstrated a powerfully insightful understanding of how humans tick. The full passage is:

““Once we were blobs in the sea, and then fishes, and then lizards and rats and then monkeys, and hundreds of things in between. This hand was once a fin, this hand once had claws! In my human mouth I have the pointy teeth of a wolf and the chisel teeth of a rabbit and the grinding teeth of a cow! Our blood is as salty as the sea we used to live in! When we’re frightened, the hair on our skin stands up, just like it did when we had fur. We are history! Everything we’ve ever been on the way to becoming us, we still are. […] I’m made up of the memories of my parents and my grandparents, all my ancestors. They’re in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I’m made up of everyone I’ve ever met who’s changed the way I think.”

–Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky:
The Continuing Adventures of
Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men