Back in the 1990s when I was the treasurer of the NAACP Madison Branch, I had the time and the funds — due to the financial backing of the NAACP ACT-SO Program by American Family Insurance — to go to the ACT-SO Competition and the NAACP National Conference for several years.

And I have to admit that the speaker I always looked forward to hearing the most was the late Julian Bond who was chair of the NAACP National Board. Julian was one of the student organizers of the Student Non-Violence Coordinating Committee and later the Southern Poverty Law Center. He eventually became a professor at the University of Virginia.

Julian was truly a man of letters and activism. His speeches almost made me giddy with delight as he used language to propel his ideas and visions.. -- READ MORE