BOONE—Civil rights activist and professor Julian Bond will speak Jan. 23 for the 31st Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration at Appalachian State University.

“An Evening with Julian Bond” begins at 7 p.m. in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts. The talk is free and open to the public. Bond’s talk is sponsored by the Chancellor’s Commission on Diversity and the Office of Multicultural Student Development.

Bond is Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the American University in Washington, D.C., and a professor in the University of Virginia’s Department of History, where he is co-director of Explorations in Black Leadership.

From his college days as a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to his role as former chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Bond has been an active participant in the movements for civil rights, economic justice and peace.

While still a student at Morehouse College, Bond was a founder of the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR), the student civil rights organization that directed three years of non-violent anti-segregation protests that led to integration of Atlanta’s movie theaters, lunch counters and parks.

Bond served four terms in the Georgia House of Representatives and six terms in the State Senate. The widely published author of many books of poetry, Bond is also author of “A Time to Speak, A Time to Act,” a collection of his essays as well as “Black Candidates Southern Campaign Experiences.”

In 2002, he received the prestigious National Freedom Award. He was named one of America’s top 200 leaders by Time Magazine and in 2008 he was named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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