Document: Joan Jones
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LOOK
Read the following quote about Joan Jones:
“While Rocky got almost all the media coverage, it is important to underscore that she was a central organizer and intellectual author of the many political activities and events that were initiated by and sometimes are seen solely as the product of Rocky.”—Isaac Saney
Many women during the 1960s were relegated to behind-the-scenes yet vital work. Why is it important for us to know about the contributions and stories of the Black women connected to Black activism?
THINK
Friend George Elliott Clarke says we should call Joan Jones the “brain trust.” Based on what you have read about Jones’s accomplishments, why does this make sense?
DO
The lack of archival information on the work of Joan Jones and that of other Black women speaks to how important it is to amplify Black activists’ work. Create a list of words and phrases to highlight Jones’s commitment to improving Black life in Canada. E.g., strategist, organizer, thinker.
Details
Date circa 2018
Materials - Paper
- Photograph
Historical Context
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- Joan Jones was a US-born civil rights activist who lived in Nova Scotia.
- She was part of the Congress of Black Writers and Artists, which met in Montréal in 1968 and has been called the largest Black Power Conference ever held outside the United States.
- She and her husband, Rocky Jones, organized Black activism in Canada to align with the radical Black Panther philosophy.
- She was a key member of Nova Scotia’s Black United Front and wrote a column for Halifax’s Chronicle Herald newspaper that dealt with human rights and the conditions of Black Nova Scotians.
Joan Jones was a civil rights activist who was born in the United States and raised in Ontario. After marrying activist Rocky Jones, they moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jones was part of the Congress of Black Writers and Artists, which met in Montréal in 1968 and has been called the largest Black Power Conference ever held outside the United States.
Together, they organized Black activism in Canada to align with the radical Black Panther philosophy. Jones edited and wrote speeches for her husband, and their home became a nexus of discussion and debate, which brought them under racist police surveillance.
She was a key member of Nova Scotia’s Black United Front and wrote a column for Halifax’s Chronicle Herald newspaper in which she talked about human rights and the conditions of Black Nova Scotians.
Joan Jones was a civil rights activist who was born in the United States in 1939 and raised in Ontario. After marrying activist Rocky Jones, they moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jones was part of the Congress of Black Writers and Artists, which met in Montréal in 1968 and has been called the largest Black Power Conference ever held outside the United States.
Together, they organized Black activism in Canada to align with the radical Black Panther philosophy, starting the Nova Scotia Project, an organization that tackled racial discrimination. Jones often took a “behind-the-scenes” role, editing and writing speeches for Rocky and providing space in her home for debate and thinking on issues related to Black community activism.
She played a key role in the Black United Front, a group that helped clients find housing and jobs, and advocated for Black leadership in Nova Scotia.
In her newspaper column, in Halifax’s Chronicle Herald, she wrote about human rights and the conditions of Black Nova Scotians.
Making their home a nexus for organizing in the 1960s led to years of phone and mail tapping and police surveillance. In 1994, when the surveillance was revealed, then RCMP commissioner Philip Murray apologized, including for the racist depictions of the Joneses in the records.
- Joan Jones was a US-born civil rights activist who lived in Nova Scotia.
- She was part of the Congress of Black Writers and Artists, which met in Montréal in 1968 and has been called the largest Black Power Conference ever held outside the United States.
- She and her husband, Rocky Jones, organized Black activism in Canada to align with the radical Black Panther philosophy.
- She was a key member of Nova Scotia’s Black United Front and wrote a column for Halifax’s Chronicle Herald newspaper that dealt with human rights and the conditions of Black Nova Scotians.
Joan Jones was a civil rights activist who was born in the United States and raised in Ontario. After marrying activist Rocky Jones, they moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jones was part of the Congress of Black Writers and Artists, which met in Montréal in 1968 and has been called the largest Black Power Conference ever held outside the United States.
Together, they organized Black activism in Canada to align with the radical Black Panther philosophy. Jones edited and wrote speeches for her husband, and their home became a nexus of discussion and debate, which brought them under racist police surveillance.
She was a key member of Nova Scotia’s Black United Front and wrote a column for Halifax’s Chronicle Herald newspaper in which she talked about human rights and the conditions of Black Nova Scotians.
Joan Jones was a civil rights activist who was born in the United States in 1939 and raised in Ontario. After marrying activist Rocky Jones, they moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jones was part of the Congress of Black Writers and Artists, which met in Montréal in 1968 and has been called the largest Black Power Conference ever held outside the United States.
Together, they organized Black activism in Canada to align with the radical Black Panther philosophy, starting the Nova Scotia Project, an organization that tackled racial discrimination. Jones often took a “behind-the-scenes” role, editing and writing speeches for Rocky and providing space in her home for debate and thinking on issues related to Black community activism.
She played a key role in the Black United Front, a group that helped clients find housing and jobs, and advocated for Black leadership in Nova Scotia.
In her newspaper column, in Halifax’s Chronicle Herald, she wrote about human rights and the conditions of Black Nova Scotians.
Making their home a nexus for organizing in the 1960s led to years of phone and mail tapping and police surveillance. In 1994, when the surveillance was revealed, then RCMP commissioner Philip Murray apologized, including for the racist depictions of the Joneses in the records.
Summary
- Joan Jones was a US-born civil rights activist who lived in Nova Scotia.
- She was part of the Congress of Black Writers and Artists, which met in Montréal in 1968 and has been called the largest Black Power Conference ever held outside the United States.
- She and her husband, Rocky Jones, organized Black activism in Canada to align with the radical Black Panther philosophy.
- She was a key member of Nova Scotia’s Black United Front and wrote a column for Halifax’s Chronicle Herald newspaper that dealt with human rights and the conditions of Black Nova Scotians.
Essential
Joan Jones was a civil rights activist who was born in the United States and raised in Ontario. After marrying activist Rocky Jones, they moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jones was part of the Congress of Black Writers and Artists, which met in Montréal in 1968 and has been called the largest Black Power Conference ever held outside the United States.
Together, they organized Black activism in Canada to align with the radical Black Panther philosophy. Jones edited and wrote speeches for her husband, and their home became a nexus of discussion and debate, which brought them under racist police surveillance.
She was a key member of Nova Scotia’s Black United Front and wrote a column for Halifax’s Chronicle Herald newspaper in which she talked about human rights and the conditions of Black Nova Scotians.
In-Depth
Joan Jones was a civil rights activist who was born in the United States in 1939 and raised in Ontario. After marrying activist Rocky Jones, they moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jones was part of the Congress of Black Writers and Artists, which met in Montréal in 1968 and has been called the largest Black Power Conference ever held outside the United States.
Together, they organized Black activism in Canada to align with the radical Black Panther philosophy, starting the Nova Scotia Project, an organization that tackled racial discrimination. Jones often took a “behind-the-scenes” role, editing and writing speeches for Rocky and providing space in her home for debate and thinking on issues related to Black community activism.
She played a key role in the Black United Front, a group that helped clients find housing and jobs, and advocated for Black leadership in Nova Scotia.
In her newspaper column, in Halifax’s Chronicle Herald, she wrote about human rights and the conditions of Black Nova Scotians.
Making their home a nexus for organizing in the 1960s led to years of phone and mail tapping and police surveillance. In 1994, when the surveillance was revealed, then RCMP commissioner Philip Murray apologized, including for the racist depictions of the Joneses in the records.