Clarence B. Jones, who helped MLK write 'I Have A Dream' speech, dies at 95
Clarence B. Jones, a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement and speechwriter for Martin Luther King Jr., has passed away at the age of 95. He was instrumental in crafting King's iconic 'I Have A Dream' speech and other significant addresses. Jones's contributions to civil rights and social justice were recognized throughout his life, culminating in receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2023.
- ▪Clarence B. Jones died at a senior living community in Cupertino, California.
- ▪He was a close confidante of Martin Luther King Jr. and helped write the famous 'I Have A Dream' speech.
- ▪Jones was also involved in significant civil rights legal cases, including New York Times v. Sullivan.
6 outlets in our directory ran this story, first to last over 37 hours. Coverage spans 2 points on the political spectrum — 4 lean left, 1 right.
- ▪ Clarence B Jones, who helped MLK write ‘I have a dream’ speech, dies at 95 — The Guardian — US
- ▪ Clarence B. Jones, who helped MLK write 'I Have A Dream' speech, dies at 95 — The Washington Times
- ▪ Clarence B. Jones Dies: Attorney Who Helped MLK Draft “I Have A Dream” Speech & Focus Of Sundance-Winning Short Film Was 95 — Deadline
- ▪ Clarence B. Jones, civil rights activist who helped write MLK’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, dies at 95 — NBC News — Top
- ▪ Clarence B. Jones, Who Helped Shape ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech, Dies at 95 — NYT — US
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| Original publisher | ABC News — US |
| Canonical URL | https://abcnews.com/US/wireStory/clarence-jones-helped-mlk-write-dream-speech-dies-133327514 |
| Publication time | Wed, 27 May 2026 02:34:59 -0400 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-27T06:37:56.835Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-27T06:37:56.835Z |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
ABC NewsLiveVideoShowsGood Morning AmericaShopGMAInterest Successfully AddedWe'll notify you here with news aboutTurn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? OffOnStream onClarence B. Jones, who helped MLK write 'I Have A Dream' speech, dies at 95Clarence BByThe Associated PressMay 26, 2026, 6:23 PM1:23FILE - Dr. Clarence B. Jones, left, a former speech writer for Martin Luther King Jr., stands next to Golden State Warriors basketball player Stephen Curry, front right, during the playing of Lift Every Voice and Sing before a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees in San Francisco, May 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)The Associated PressCUPERTINO, Calif. -- Clarence B. Jones, a former speechwriter and confidante of the Rev. Dr.
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