Clarence B. Jones, a civil rights attorney and close adviser to Martin Luther King Jr., died on May 22, 2026, at the age of 95. Jones was renowned for his pivotal role in shaping King’s leadership during the civil rights movement, including his involvement in drafting key speeches and safeguarding his legacy.

Born in Philadelphia on January 8, 1931, Jones grew up in modest circumstances with parents who worked as domestic staff for a wealthy white family in New Jersey. After attending a boarding school run by nuns for Black and Native American children, he excelled in high school and later served in the U.S. Army. He refused to sign a loyalty oath on the grounds of racial injustice, which resulted in an initial undesirable discharge. With legal support, he later secured an honorable discharge, enabling him to pursue a law degree at Boston University under the GI Bill.

Jones began his legal career in Los Angeles as an entertainment lawyer, representing prominent African-American entertainers such as Nat King Cole and Sidney Poitier. In 1960, he was approached to defend Martin Luther King Jr., who was facing tax evasion charges in Alabama. Though initially reluctant, Jones was moved after hearing King preach in Los Angeles and subsequently committed to supporting King’s cause.

For nearly a decade until King’s assassination in 1968, Jones served as King’s personal lawyer, speechwriter, and confidant. He played a critical role in King’s legal battles, including securing King’s acquittal on charges stemming from civil rights protests and smuggling out the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”—King’s seminal defense of civil disobedience—while King was held in solitary confinement. Jones also negotiated funds to post bail for King and other demonstrators with the assistance of then-New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller.

Jones is notably credited for helping draft much of King’s speech at the 1963 March on Washington. He copyrighted the speech prior to its delivery, a move that later secured substantial royalties for King’s estate. While the iconic “I Have a Dream” segment was delivered impromptu by King, Jones’s contributions to the speech’s structure and rhetoric were significant. Additionally, Jones drafted King’s 1967 “Beyond Vietnam” address, which marked a controversial stance against the war in Southeast Asia.

Throughout his activism, Jones faced considerable personal risk, including physical assaults and surveillance by the FBI. After King’s death, Jones transitioned away from the civil rights movement, becoming the first Black partner at a Wall Street brokerage firm. He was also involved in negotiating the resolution of the 1971 Attica prison riot and held an ownership stake in the Amsterdam News, a historic African-American newspaper.

Jones remained committed to preserving King’s legacy through writing, speaking engagements, and academic initiatives, though he consistently refrained from discussing King’s private life. He leaves behind a legacy as a key architect of the civil rights movement and a guardian of one of its most influential leaders.