Jones, Burnley A. (Rocky)

Person

Jones, Burnley A. (Rocky)

1941-2013

Burnley Allan “Rocky” Jones was born in Truro, NS on August 26, 1941. He joined the armed forces when he was 16 and served for three years. When he was 19 he moved to Toronto, where he got involved in social justice. He was actively involved in issues of racism against Black populations. He moved back to Halifax where he started many initiatives to further the Black Nova Scotia population in society. He got his bachelor’s degree from Dalhousie University in 1974, and was the co-founder of the Transition Year Program at Dalhousie, which brought Black and Indigenous students into university. He taught in the program for ten years. In 1989 he helped create the Indigenous, Black & Mi’kmaw Initiative at Dalhousie Law School, to bring more minority populations into law school. He was valedictorian of the program when he graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1992. He worked as a legal aid lawyer after graduating, and eventually opened his own law firm – B.A. Rocky Jones & Associates. He worked mainly with black and aboriginal communities and on prisoner’s rights. Rocky Jones was the co-founder of the Black United Front of Nova Scotia and the National Black Coalition of Canada. He brought the Black Power movement to Nova Scotia in the 1960s and 1970s, and was tailed by the RCMP and FBI for over ten years for his involvement in political and racial activism. Rocky Jones holds and honourary degree from Guelph University, and was named to the Order of Nova Scotia in 2010. Rocky Jones passed away from a heart attack in 2013 at the age of 71.

Dalhousie University. Faculty of Open Learning and Career Development. Transition Year Program (1970-)