1. Burnley Allan "Rocky" Jones was an African-Nova Scotian and an internationally known political activist in the areas of human rights, race and poverty.
20 Facts About Rocky Jones
1. 2.
Rocky Jones came to prominence first as a member of the Student Union for Peace Action during the 1960s and then as a civil rights activist, community organizer, educator, and lawyer.
3.
Rocky Jones was born to Elmer and Willena Jones in Truro, Nova Scotia as one of 10 children.
4.
Rocky Jones's grandfather, Jeremiah Jones, was a hero during the Battle of Vimy Ridge in World War I Jones was a fifth-generation African Canadian and could trace his Canadian roots back to the Black Refugees of the early 19th century.
5.
Rocky Jones grew up in a close-knit working-class neighborhood with white and black families.
6.
Rocky Jones did not face overt racism until he was old enough to attend junior high school.
7.
Rocky Jones was a real nationalist, a union man too.
8.
In 1968, Rocky Jones was responsible for inviting Carmichael and members of the Black Panther Party to visit Halifax.
9.
Rocky Jones organized the Black Historical and Educational Research Organization, a pioneering oral history project on Black culture.
10.
Rocky Jones helped create the Dalhousie Law School Indigenous Blacks and Mi'kmaq Program.
11.
Rocky Jones developed programs for women in the Kingston Prison for Women, Halifax County Correctional Centre and in the community.
12.
Rocky Jones developed a wilderness experience program for ex-inmates and oversaw two production companies staffed by ex-inmates.
13.
Rocky Jones was the executive director of Real Opportunities for Prisoner Employment, a self-help organization for ex-inmates.
14.
Rocky Jones joined the New Democratic Party in Nova Scotia in 1965 and remained active as an organizer and supporter in the following decades.
15.
In 1995, Rocky Jones was co-chair of the People's Summit, an alternative assembly that took place during the G7 meetings in Halifax.
16.
Rocky Jones' firm concentrated on human rights cases, criminal, prisoner rights and labour law.
17.
Rocky Jones was particularly interested in human rights issues involving Black people and people of colour.
18.
Rocky Jones worked closely with the Aboriginal community on land claims, justice and educational issues and was a Canadian expert on environmental racism.
19.
Rocky Jones died of heart failure on July 29,2013, at the age of 71.
20.
The book was written by James W St G Walker and Rocky Jones, and includes an afterword by George Elliott Clarke.