18th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at the Westport Library

Clarence Jones, Speechwriter and Advisor to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to Serve as Guest of Honor for 18^th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at The Westport Library

Co-sponsored by The Westport Library, TEAM Westport, the Westport Country Playhouse, and the Westport/Weston Interfaith Clergy and Council

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 18^th annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration is a partnership between the Library, TEAM Westport, the Westport Country Playhouse, and the Westport/Weston Interfaith Clergy and Council.

Dr. Jones served as legal counsel, strategic advisor, and draft speechwriter to 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Find more information about the event on the Westport Library’s page HERE and HERE.

Register for the event HERE.