Clarence B. Jones, a friend, lawyer, and speechwriter to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. passed away May 22. He was 95.
Jones was the founding director emeritus of the Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice (INSJ) at USF, co-founding the center with Jonathan Greenberg in 2018 to carry forward the teachings of Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi.
“A man who stood at the center of history, Clarence generously shared his wisdom, courage, and moral vision with our university community,” said President Salvador D. Aceves ’83, EdD ’95.
Jones began teaching at USF as a visiting professor in 2012, and his course, “From Slavery to Obama,” was memorable, one alumna said.
“I’ll be telling my grandkids about getting the opportunity to learn from him,” said Taylor Jackson ’14, who took Jones’ class her junior year — the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, which Jones helped organize.
Jones was a friend, adviser, and lawyer to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1960 to 1968, when King was assassinated. In 1963, Jones assisted King in drafting the “I Have a Dream” speech that the civil rights leader delivered that August at the March on Washington.
Following King's arrest that same year for protesting in Birmingham, Alabama, Jones secretly took from jail King's hand-written response to eight clergymen who had denounced the protests. It was later printed in newspapers across the U.S. as "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
Throughout the Civil Rights era, Jones played a pivotal role as one of King’s inner circle of advisers, along with former Atlanta mayor and UN ambassador Andrew Young and political activist Jesse Jackson. Jones and Young came together in February 2021 for a USF discussion on civil and social unrest. Jackson spoke at the university in 2017.
In 2023, Jones published a book about his time with King, Last of the Lions: An African American Journey in Memoir.
More recently, NBA All-Star Stephen Curry co-produced a documentary about Jones called The Baddest Speechwriter of All, a 29-minute film, that premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival. It also was co-directed by Curry, who teamed up with two-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot.
Jones, who celebrated his 95th birthday that month, said, "Finally the world recognizes that I am the baddest speechwriter of all."
The documentary was awarded the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, and here's what the judges said: "This film implores us to take action with a message that is timeless and timely. Through the eyes of its subject, we find one of the most important moments in modern history has a new perspective. For its portrait of a strong willed, hilarious, compassionate man, and the instrumental role he played in kicking ass, nonviolently, against division and hate, the Short Film Grand Jury Prize goes to The Baddest Speechwriter of All."
Jones wanted to found the INSJ at USF “because he believed deeply that universities have a moral obligation to prepare the next generation for the work of justice,” said Provost Eileen Fung.
In 2025, the inaugural Martin Luther King Jr./Clarence B. Jones Faculty Fellow was launched to ensure that Jones’ teachings, his strategies, and his spirit continue to shape the education USF offers.
“This is especially important at a moment when this work could not be more necessary,” Fung said, “as our university community, our city, our state, and our nation face challenges that are as unsettling as they are urgent. Dr. Jones' legacy lives on here at our university.”