Julian Bond
In a companion feature to its obituary, The Washington Post
on Monday August 17, shared a story from Pamela Horowtiz, Julian Bond's widow.
As she was leaving the intensive care
unit where her husband had died, a nurse stopped to offer condolences, the
first person to extend sympathy:
“She told me, ‘I want you to know
it was a privilege to take care of him,’ ” recalls Horowitz, voice wavering.
“She said, ‘As a gay American, I thought he was a hero.’ And for her to say
that, for her to be the last person who was with him, I thought it was a nice
way to end."
For many of us in the struggles for social justice, Julian
Bond was a hero and a role model.
Known first for his civil rights activism, Bond won national
attention in 1966 when the Georgia state legislature voted to deny him the seat
to which he was elected. The rationale
was that he was a disloyal American for opposing the war in Vietnam. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the
legislature had denied Bond his free speech rights and ordered that he be
seated.
Throughout his life, Julian Bond remained a champion for
racial justice, and he personified the effort to broaden the social justice
struggle to include everyone. Besides the
lesbian nurse who saw him as a
hero, there were workers who welcomed
him to their picket lines and rallies and peace activists who could always
count him among their ranks.
