Dr. Clarence B. Jones, the longtime speechwriter and confidant of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will be the guest of honor at Westport’s 18th annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, to be held Sunday, January 14, 2024, at 3 pm at The Westport Library.
The keynote conversation is free of charge; registration is highly encouraged. The event also will be livestreamed.
Dr. Jones served as legal counsel, strategic advisor, and draft speechwriter to Dr. King from 1960 until King’s assassination in 1968. He is credited with writing the first seven paragraphs of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, one of the most iconic and enduring addresses in American history.
The annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration is a partnership between the Library, TEAM Westport, and the Westport Country Playhouse, as well as the Westport/Weston Interfaith Clergy and Council, the two groups that hosted the inaugural celebration in 2006.
“Years ago, Westport was like a second home to me,” Dr. Jones said. “Fond memories of time spent there with my family. Now this later generation of extended family, Lisa Weitzman and Howard Edelstein, make my return and appearance at The Westport Library, after so many years, more poignant and beautiful.”
“We are privileged to welcome Dr. Jones to commemorate the life of Dr. King,” said Bill Harmer, Westport Library executive director. “His profound influence on American history is indelible, and his life story an inspiration and a celebration of the American dream about which he so eloquently articulated. We eagerly anticipate the participation of the Westport community and beyond for this extraordinary afternoon.”
Dr. Jones was an integral member of the Civil Rights movement, one of the few privy to King’s decision-making processes and who shared in his political struggles. According to Jones’ official bio, Vanity Fair called him the man who kept King’s secrets. In addition, Jones engaged with many of the leaders of the Black liberation movement, serving as a liaison between King and Malcolm X, James Baldwin, and Robert F. Kennedy, among others.
Across the decades, Dr. Jones has worked to carry on King’s legacy. As a lawyer, civil rights leader, and business executive, he has maintained close personal friendships and collaborative working relationships with influential 20th century artists, writers, athletes, and social justice activists, including Muhammed Ali, James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee, and Lorraine Hansberry. In 1974, Jones negotiated the historic “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match in Kinshasa, Zaire, between Ali and George Foreman.
“We are exceedingly honored and privileged to have Clarence Jones featured as this year’s MLK speaker,” said Harold Bailey, chair of TEAM Westport. “The width, breadth, and depth of his connection to Dr. King’s life, movement, and legacy are encyclopedic. His perspectives should provide our community a unique opportunity for insight and reflection.”
Dr. Jones currently serves as the chairman of the Spill the Honey Foundation, that utilizes the transformative power of the arts and brings together the historic and contemporary voices of the Black-Jewish alliance to achieve social justice non-violently. He also founded the Dr. Clarence B. Jones Institute for Social Advocacy, serves as the founding director emeritus of the Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco, and has served on the boards of cultural organizations, including The Impact Repertory Theater & Dance Company, The Theatre Development Fund NYC, and the Roosevelt Institute.
Among the notable elements of his remarkable biography: Because of his relationship with King and his associates, Jones was the target of illegal wiretaps initiated by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover from July 1963 until King’s assassination.
Dr. Jones was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of San Francisco and honored at events at Columbia University, where he was an undergraduate, and the Julliard School of Performing Arts, where he studied music. He graduated from Boston University Law School, where he was honored as the recipient of the Silver Shingle Award for his public service.
In 2021, Dr. Jones received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the American Bar Association, the highest recognition given by the ABA, awarded in a ceremony featuring a keynote address from President Barack Obama.
For many years, Dr. Jones served as a scholar in residence at Stanford University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute and as a diversity professor at the University of San Francisco. A popular course he developed and taught at the school (“From Slavery to Obama: Renewing the Promise of Reconstruction”) is now provided online in many historically black colleges.
Dr. Jones has authored two acclaimed books, What Would Martin Say? and Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that Transformed a Nation, and countless articles and essays for The Huffington Post and many other publications. His newest book, Last of the Lions, was released in August 2023 by Red Hawk Publications/UNC Press.
Past Martin Luther King Jr. celebration keynote speakers include National Book Award winner and MacArthur Fellow Ibram X. Kendi, Pulitzer Prize winner James Forman Jr., New York Times best-selling authors Heather McGhee and Layla Saad, Guggenheim Scholar Carol Anderson, American Book Award winner Tricia Rose, Quinnipiac Law School founder Marilyn Ford, and last year’s guest: author, artist, filmmaker, and multi-dimensional performance artist Junauda Petrus.
