Life in New York, during the 1920s-1930s, allowed Jones to experience oppression and exploitation, especially …show more content…
A campaign was launched on behalf of her release, delaying her impending deportation. Jones was represented by an African American lawyer named George Crockett Jr, who secured her release six months after her arrest. Following this in 1951 Jones was once again arrested for her violation of the Smith Act, on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government. Jones was convicted in 1955 by the U.S. Supreme Court, and subsequently, sent to a Virginian women’s federal prison. Due to her deteriorating health problems, which had persisted since her youth, she suffered a major heart attack while imprisoned. Once again, there was a national campaign which led to her release, later that year, and her deportation to Great Britain. Jones was not deported to Trinidad, as the government refused to allow her into the country, as they were afraid of her radical behaviour and ability to command the masses. Therefore, she was sent to Great Britain, where she continued her fight for the equality, this time for the West Indian community and women. The Afro-Asian Caribbean population at the time were in a heavy state of oppression and were in need of a leader to aid in their liberation from this repressive state in which they …show more content…
This was a crucial part of her fight for equal rights and opportunities for West Indian people. She also launched the Notting Hill Carnival, in 1959, to showcase the diverse culture and talent of the Caribbean. A common slogan used during these Carnival celebrations, which still occur at present, is “A people’s art is the genesis of their freedom.” Despite being the main driver of the development of this carnival event, most contemporary participants are unaware of the role she had to play. Some even say, about Jones, that she has been forgotten by history, despite her many advocacies and accomplishments.
Some of her minor work included attempts to help the female West Indian population, as they felt the most excessive forms of racism, being black women in a time where this was not appreciated. She initiated a beauty pageant for these women to help them feel a sense of beauty and pride that they were taught – for the entirety of their lives – not to feel.
Due to her further deteriorating health status, Jones died in December, 1964, in Great Britain. She was buried on the 9th of January, in Highgate cemetery, to the left of “the father of communism,” Karl