Julian Bond, a famous civil rights activist of United States and a former Chairman of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), has died at the age of 75 due to prolonged illness. The Tennessee native was on the forefront of the 1960s civil rights movement, and was among activists who demanded equal rights for African-Americans.

Bond was part of a group of students taught by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at Morehouse College during the height of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Bond was a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and helped to organize protests at segregated facilities in the 1960s.

In 1998, he became NAACP chairman and served for 11 years. He remained president emeritus of the Southern Poverty Law Center until his death. Bond’s activism may have been inspired by his father, Horace Mann Bond, who was the first black president of Lincoln University.

In his later years he turned to education and was a distinguished visiting professor at American University in Washington, and also taught in the history department at the University of Virginia. He published a book of essays, “A Time to Speak, A Time to Act” in 1972, and also wrote poetry and articles for various publications.

President Barack Obama highlighted his lifetime mission of justice and equality. Former President Bill Clinton and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also offered their condolences.

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