Megabytes

I wrote a report on Civil Rights when I was a freshman in high school. The year was 1972. The Civil Rights Act had been passed less than a decade before. New Hampshire College’s commencement speaker that year was Julian Bond, founding member of SNCC, founder of Southern Poverty Law Center, and elected member of the Georgia House of Representatives.
Wouldn’t it be cool if I could interview Mr. Bond for my school report? Luckily, my father was the Academic Dean at NHC (now Southern NH University) and was able to arrange for me to talk with Mr. Bond after the graduation ceremony!
It was exciting to meet him. I don’t remember what questions I asked, but I did quote him heavily in my report. All of my other footnotes referenced books, magazines and encyclopedia articles. Then there was this footnote: Interview with Mr. Julian Bond, at New Hampshire College, May, 1972.
This is a fond and special memory from my youth. Now I will have the opportunity to hear him speak again.
Reed College is promoting a series of events in celebration of Black History Month. This Friday, Feb. 2, Julian Bond will be speaking. His topic is “Civil Rights: In the Day, Today, and Tomorrow.” It’s free and open to the public.

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