ATLANTA — Julian Bond, a leading figure from the 1960s civil rights movement who served as chairman of the NAACP after a long career in politics, died Saturday, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. He was 75.
Bond died in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, after a brief illness, the center said in a statement released Sunday.
Horace Julian Bond was born Jan. 14, 1940, in Nashville, Tennessee, and grew to be a major force in the campaign for racial equality. Often seen at the forefront of protests against segregation, Bond later pursued a lengthy career in politics and academia but never ceded his position as a civil rights icon.
President Barack Obama issued a statement Sunday calling Bond “a hero.”
“Justice and equality was the mission that spanned his life,” Obama said. “Julian Bond helped change this country for the better. And what better way to be remembered than that.”
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