PRINTER'S NO. 2126
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
450
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY V. BROWN, BISHOP, SCHLOSSBERG, MURT, KINSEY,
SCHREIBER, ROZZI, J. HARRIS, BOYLE, LONGIETTI, KIRKLAND,
McCARTER, SAINATO, YOUNGBLOOD, GIBBONS, WATSON, PASHINSKI,
DAVIS, WARD, DRISCOLL, DONATUCCI, READSHAW, D. MILLER, KIM
AND DiGIROLAMO, AUGUST 21, 2015
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
AUGUST 21, 2015
A RESOLUTION
Expressing condolences upon the passing of H. Julian Bond, civil
rights leader, political activist, legislator and educator,
and honoring his life and contributions to this nation and
the African-American community.
WHEREAS, Horace Julian Bond died due to health complications
August 15, 2015, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, at 75 years of
age; and
WHEREAS, Born January 14, 1940, to Horace Mann Bond and Julia
Agnes Washington in Nashville, Tennessee, Mr. Bond would later
relocate to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania following his
father's installation as first African-American president of
Lincoln University; and
WHEREAS, Committed to academic excellence, Mr. Bond graduated
from George School, a Quaker preparatory institution in Bucks
County, and subsequently attended Morehouse College in Atlanta,
Georgia; and
WHEREAS, During his time as a student at Morehouse College,
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Mr. Bond not only exhibited extraordinary academic prowess, but
he also served as one of the original leaders and founders of
the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); and
WHEREAS, SNCC was founded as a grassroots organization
engendering social and political equity through the utilization
of nonviolent resistance tactics such as sit-ins and peaceful
demonstrations; and
WHEREAS, In 1971, as Mr. Bond's political activism grew, he
and civil rights attorneys Morris Dees and Joseph Levin, Jr.,
saw the existential necessity of founding the Southern Poverty
Law Center to champion civil rights and equal treatment under
the law for poor and minority citizens throughout the South; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Bond's strong convictions and advocacy oriented
him toward public office, where he sought to address many of the
systemic and intrinsic inequities of the political system; and
WHEREAS, In 1965, Mr. Bond ran for and successfully won the
136th District seat in the House of Representatives of the State
of Georgia in a milestone election which integrated the House
for the first time since Reconstruction; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Bond's political victory was not without
controversy, as legislators immediately confronted him with
racism and discrimination, voting to remove him from his seat
due to his publicly expressed opposition to the Vietnam War; and
WHEREAS, The issue of Mr. Bond's removal from the Georgia
House of Representatives would go before the United States
Supreme Court, which determined in 1966 that his fellow
legislators had violated his First Amendment rights; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Bond had a very successful and meaningful
political life within the Georgia General Assembly, amassing
four terms in the House of Representatives and six terms in the
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Senate; and
WHEREAS, Over the course of his illustrious political career,
Mr. Bond achieved many milestones, but none more significant
than becoming the first African American to be nominated as a
candidate for Vice President of the United States during the
1968 presidential election; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Bond withdrew his name from the ballot since he
was too young to serve, being seven years younger than the
minimum age requirement under the Constitution of the United
States; and
WHEREAS, After a long career in public service, Mr. Bond
indelibly directed his leadership and energies toward social
justice; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Bond chaired the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People from 1998 through 2009; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Bond's influence and brilliance continued to
manifest itself in many ways, including his literary
contributions as a writer and poet and his work as a television
commentator and college professor; and
WHEREAS, Even during the last years of his life, Mr. Bond
utilized his voice for the greater good of disadvantaged,
disenfranchised and marginalized persons in our society; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Bond uniquely influenced or mentored virtually
all of our nation's contemporary political and civil rights
activists; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania mourn the death of H. Julian Bond
and extend its most sincere condolences to his family, including
his wife Pamela Horowitz, his sons Horace Mann Bond II, Michael
Julian Bond and Jeffrey Alvin Bond, and his daughters Phyllis
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Jane Bond-McMillan and Julia "Cookie" Louise Bond; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
the Bond family as an expression of sorrow for their loss and
reverence for Mr. Bond's notable civil rights advocacy and
public service.
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