BALTIMORE — Three weeks after announcing he would not seek another term as chairman of the NAACP’s national board, veteran civil-rights activist Julian Bond said Tuesday that he has changed his mind.
Bond said in an interview on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” that he was flooded with calls from board members and others asking him to stay at the helm of the civil-rights group.
“I got this outpouring of support,” Bond said, “from not only my board members — a great, great majority of my board members — but also from people who may or may not be members of the NAACP, saying, ‘Why don’t you stay?’ ”
Bond, 68, has been board chairman since 1998. He said three weeks ago that the time was right to let younger leaders take over the NAACP, which will mark its centennial next year.
“I’ve changed my mind, and I am going to offer for re-election in February,” Bond said.
With Bond’s backing, Benjamin T. Jealous, 35, was chosen in May as president and chief executive of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, becoming the youngest president in its history.
Jealous supports Bond’s decision to remain as chairman “100 percent,” said Carla Sims, an NAACP spokeswoman.
