Julian Bond to Seek Another Term as Chairman of the NAACP

It's back to the future at the NAACP. Julian Bond, the longtime chairman of the nation's oldest civil rights organization, announced last month that he would step down from his position, saying the time was right to "let a new generation of leaders" take over the group.

Never mind all that. This week, Bond, a prominent leader of the civil rights movement since the 1960s, when he helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Atlanta, said he had changed his mind and would seek another term as chairman of the NAACP board. Bond said his fellow board members, along with other leaders in the civil rights community, had convinced him that he should stay on. Bond has been the NAACP's chairman since 1998.

Earlier this fall, the NAACP board, with Bond's backing, chose Benjamin Jealous, a 35-year-old former newspaper executive and online fundraising wiz, to become its next president. Jealous is the youngest person ever to serve in that role, and the selection seemed to be a sign that the NAACP, which has struggled for relevance in recent years and has reportedly seen its membership rolls declining, was handing the reins to a younger generation.

U.S. News talked with Bond after the election about the future of civil rights in an Obama presidency.

• Read more by Justin Ewers.
• Read a Q&A with Julian Bond.
• Read a Q&A with Benjamin Jealous.