The president of the branch in Atlanta was a pastor of a church, the Reverend Sam Williams, a wonderful guy. He was middle-class and fairly militant for the time and place.

Julian Bond

As legal slavery passed, we entered into a permanent period of unemployment and underemployment from which we have yet to emerge.

Julian Bond

The First Amendment means everything to me.

Julian Bond

Any time someone carries a picket sign in front of the White House, that is the First Amendment in action.

Julian Bond

And I've tried to give us a higher profile. Typically, at a board meeting, we'd pass resolutions about the civil-rights issue of the day, but we'd never tell anyone. So I've instituted a policy of announcing our resolutions at the end of our meetings.

Julian Bond

You know, I come from six generations of college graduates.

Julian Bond

Griffin Bell later apologized to me for that decision.

Julian Bond

But even at the height of these scandals, even at the time when our finances were at their worst, the NAACP branches - the grassroots - kept plugging away. They kept doing what they do, and they do it well.

Julian Bond

Violence is black children going to school for 12 years and receiving 6 years' worth of education.

Julian Bond

"I would say to them 'Talk to a woman'. Reach over to the woman sitting next to you and ask her what you can do to help her in this situation."

Julian Bond

As skills and energy became more of a demand, people who didn't have skills just got left behind, got shuttled to the side. Education didn't keep up with their promise. Education didn't prepare them for this new world. Jobs went overseas.

Julian Bond

I was a Georgia state legislator for a great many years.

Julian Bond