Honoring Clarence B. Jones

Our beloved teacher, mentor and friend Dr. Clarence B. Jones passed away at 95, leaving a legacy that reshaped the moral landscape of the United States. All of us at USF who were impacted and inspired by Dr. Jones and were inspired by him send our condolences and love to the Jones family: Christine T. Jones-Tucker (Edward), Alexia N. Jones, Clarence B. Jones Jr., known as Ben (Kristen), Dana N.G. Jones, Felicia E. Jones and Lin Walters, his longtime partner.

As the Inaugural Director of the University of San Francisco’s Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice (INSJ), which he co‑founded with Jonathan D. Greenberg to advance the teachings of Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi, Jones built a home for courageous dialogue, nonviolent practice, and moral imagination. USF President Salvador D. Aceves describes Dr. Jones as “a man who stood at the center of history,” sharing his wisdom and moral vision with generations of students.

Jones’s national impact was equally profound. As a close adviser, lawyer, and speechwriter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he helped draft the opening of the “I Have a Dream” speech and secretly carried out King’s handwritten pages that became “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” He played a pivotal role in the March on Washington, defended King during the 1960 tax trial, and contributed to the landmark New York Times v. Sullivan Supreme Court case that reshaped press freedom. His life story — captured in his memoir Last of the Lions and the Sundance‑winning documentary produced by Dr. Jones’s dear friend Stephen Curry The Baddest Speechwriter of All — cements his place as one of the most influential civil rights strategists of the 20th century.