Claudia Jones: Google dedicates doodle to Trinidad-born activist, feminist, journalist

Google today dedicates a beautiful doodle to Claudia Jones (Claudia Vera Cumberbatch), who was a Trinidad and Tobago-born journalist and activist. She migrated with her family to the US at a very early age, where she became a political activist and black nationalist through Communism. She used the false name Jones as ‘self-protective disinformation’.

Claudia Jones was born on February 21, 1915 in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Following the post-war cocoa price crash in Trinidad, her family emigrated to New York City. During that time she was just 9-years old. She won the Theodore Roosevelt Award for Good Citizenship at her junior high school.

As Claudia Jones was an immigrant woman, she had limited career choices despite being a bright student. She was stuck with tuberculosis in 1932 due to her poor living conditions. This damaged her lungs and she suffered from it for the rest of her life.

Claudia Jones had many achievements, one of which was the foundation of West Indian Gazette and Afro-Asian Caribbean News—Britain’s first, major Black newspaper. The paper became a key contributor to the rise of consciousness within the Black British community.

Claudia Jones tirelessly championed issues throughout her life like civil rights, gender equality, and decolonization through journalism, community organization and public speaking. She focused much of her work on the liberation of Black women everywhere from the discrimination they faced due to a combination of classism, racism and sexism.

Many may not know that Claudia Jones was imprisoned for multiple times due to her political activity. In an effort to counteract racial tensions, she inaugurated an annual Caribbean carnival, whose spirit lives on today as a symbol of community and inclusion.

Claudia Jones died on December 24, 1964 at the age of 49. She suffered a massive heart attack due to heart disease and tuberculosis. The Claudia Jones Organisation was founded in London in 1982 to support and empower women and families of African-Caribbean heritage.

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