Claudia Jones

A Trinidad-born activist and journalist who championed racial and gender equality, founding London's Notting Hill Carnival.

Claudia Jones (1915–1964) was a trailblazing figure in civil rights and Pan-Africanism. After migrating to the U.S. in 1924, she joined the Communist Party, advocating for Black and working-class women. Her 1949 essay An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman! highlighted intersectional oppression.

Exiled to the UK in 1955 due to McCarthyism, Jones co-founded the West Indian Gazette, Britain's first major Black newspaper. She used it to combat racism and promote Caribbean unity. In 1959, she launched the Notting Hill Carnival to celebrate Caribbean culture and counter racial tensions post-1958 riots. Discover more about her legacy here.

Jones also co-founded the UK's first Black housing association and campaigned against the Commonwealth Immigrants Act. Her slogan No human is illegal remains relevant in modern immigration debates. Though she died at 49, her work laid foundations for Britain's Black Rights Movement.

In 2008, the UK issued a stamp in her honor, cementing her status as a multiculturalism pioneer. Learn about her impact on modern activism here.