Clarence B. Jones, the attorney and civil rights activist who helped write Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, has died at the age of 95. His family said Jones died Friday at an assisted living facility in California.
Jones became close to Dr. King in the 1960s after successfully representing him in a tax evasion trial. He later became one of King’s most trusted legal advisers and strategic counselors during the civil rights movement.
In 2024, former President Joe Biden awarded Jones the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work and contributions to civil rights.
A photo shared by The King Center showed a younger Jones standing over Dr. King with paper and pen in hand. The organization wrote in part, “We are grateful for his life and his work in the interest of justice and civil rights.”
