Julian Bond has been a lifelong advocate for civil rights and economic justice. As a college student in Atlanta, he was arrested for sitting in a segregated cafeteria and later helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Although his opposition to the Vietnam War prevented him from taking his elected seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, he was sworn in after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in his favor.

Bond served as a state legislator for 20 years, then became a writer and lecturer. He served as chairman of the board of the NAACP for 12 years. He continues to speak about civil rights as an author, media commentator and university scholar.