Dr. Clarence B. Jones, associate of Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke in Kyiv at the U.S. Ambassador’s Forum.

February 21, 2013

In honor of Black History Month, on February 21, 2013, U.S. Ambassador John F. Tefft hosted an Ambassador’s Forum with Dr. Clarence B. Jones on Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Dr. King’s “Dream” – Why Black History Month in the United States?”.  Dr. Jones is the former personal counsel, advisor and close personal friend of American civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The Ambassador’s Forum creates a regular opportunity for the examination of the ideas, trends, and forces impacting today’s world. The Forum with Dr. Jones took place at the Diplomatic Academy in Kyiv.

In a distinguished and heralded career, Dr. Clarence B. Jones served as a speechwriter and counsel to Martin Luther King, Jr. from 1960 to his assassination in 1968.  Dr. Clarence Jones worked closely with Martin Luther King, Jr. and assisted him in drafting the celebrated “I Have a Dream” speech that Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963. Through his work in the civil rights movement, Dr. Jones has dramatically impacted the course of American history. For example, in April 1963, he drafted the settlement agreement between the City of Birmingham, Alabama and Dr. King to bring about the end of demonstrations and the desegregation of department stores and public accommodations. In September 1971, he again found himself at the center of historic events when, at the request of New York State Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, he helped in the attempt to negotiate an end to the historic Attica prison inmate rebellion. Dr. Jones also had a successful career in an investment banking firm, and was the “first Negro” on Wall Street. He has founded successful financial, corporate and media-related ventures. He is the co-author of “What Would Martin Say?", 2008, "Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech That Transformed A Nation”, 2011, and of the E-Book “Uprising: Understanding Attica, Revolution and the Incarceration State.”  He is currently co-writing a book “Where Were You?”  for the 50th Anniversary of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Dr. Jones posts a regular column in the Huffington Post. He is also writing his autobiography: “Memoirs of a Winter Time Soldier”.