As a child, she migrated with her family to the United States, where she became a Communist political activist, feminist and Black nationalist, adopting the name Jones as "self-protective disinformation".

[11] After the Young Communist League USA became American Youth for Democracy during World War II, Jones became editor of its monthly journal, Spotlight.

[12] As a member of the Communist Party USA and a Black nationalist and feminist, Jones made her main focus the creation of "an anti-imperialist coalition, managed by working-class leadership, fueled by the involvement of women.

[17] Such low wages deepened the economic burdens on Black women, who struggled to lift their families out of poverty and poor living conditions.

Coupled with other capitalist's exploitative practices like high housing rents, these conditions undermined Black families’ well-being, contributing to higher maternal and infant mortality rates.

[17] Jones also examines the societal subjugation of Black women under capitalism, revealing how discriminatory laws and social attitudes undermine their autonomy.

[17] Jones continues to argue that Black women often undertake primary responsibility in caring for the economic and social life of their families, frequently becoming the main "breadwinners".

[18]Jones also references historical testimonies from early historians of the slave trade, noting that the love and sacrifice Black women showed for their children was unparalleled across other communities globally.

Following a hearing by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, she was found in violation of the McCarran Act for being an alien (non-US citizen) who had joined the Communist Party.

[21] She was refused entry to Trinidad and Tobago, in part because the colonial governor Major General Sir Hubert Elvin Rance was of the opinion that "she may prove troublesome".

[24] Supported by her cousin Trevor Carter, and her friends Nadia Cattouse, Amy Ashwood Garvey, Beryl McBurnie, Pearl Prescod and her lifelong mentor Paul Robeson, Jones campaigned against racism in housing, education and employment.

[25] In the early 1960s, her health failing, Jones helped organize campaigns against the Commonwealth Immigrants Bill (passed in April 1962), which would make it harder for non-whites to migrate to Britain.

[25] Jones wrote in her last published essay, "The Caribbean Community in Britain", in Freedomways (Summer 1964):[30] The newspaper has served as a catalyst, quickening the awareness, socially and politically, of West Indians, Afro-Asians and their friends.

[12] In August 1958, four months after the launch of WIG, the Notting Hill race riots occurred, as well as similar earlier disturbances in Robin Hood Chase, Nottingham.

[31] In view of the racially driven analysis of these events by the existing daily newspapers, Jones began receiving visits from members of the Black British community and also from various national leaders responding to the concern of their citizens, including Cheddi Jagan of British Guiana, Norman Manley of Jamaica, Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Phyllis Shand Allfrey and Carl La Corbinière of the West Indies Federation.

Jones used her connections to gain use of St Pancras Town Hall in January 1959 for the first Mardi-Gras-based carnival,[32] directed by Edric Connor[33][34] (who in 1951 had arranged for the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra to appear at the Festival of Britain)[35] and with the Boscoe Holder Dance Troupe, jazz guitarist Fitzroy Coleman and singer Cleo Laine headlining;[33] the event was televised nationally by the BBC.

[20] Her funeral on 9 January 1965 was a large and political ceremony, with her burial plot selected to be that located to the left of the tomb of her hero, Karl Marx, in Highgate Cemetery, North London.

She was a vigorous and courageous leader of the Communist Party of the United States, and was very active in the work for the unity of white and coloured peoples and for dignity and equality, especially for the Negro people and for women.From 1950 to 1953, Jones contributed to the Daily Worker newspaper a regular column called "Half of the World", a title she used to assert the importance of women's rights, given their proportional numbers in the world.

The name of Davies' book is also a nod to the resting place of Jones, in London's Highgate Cemetery, where she is buried to the left of Karl Marx's grave.

[59] A sculpture of Claudia Jones by artist Favour Jonathan, created as part of the 2021 Sky Arts series Landmark, is on display at Black Cultural Archives in Brixton.

[61] In 2018 Jones was named by the Evening Standard on a list of 14 "Inspirational Black British women throughout history" (alongside Phillis Wheatley, Mary Seacole, Adelaide Hall, Margaret Busby, Olive Morris, Connie Mark, Joan Armatrading, Tessa Sanderson, Doreen Lawrence, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Sharon White, Malorie Blackman, Diane Abbott and Zadie Smith).

[62] Bustle magazine included Jones on a list of "7 Black British Women Throughout History That Deserve To Be Household Names In 2019", together with Mary Prince, Evelyn Dove, Olive Morris, Margaret Busby, Olivette Otele, and Shirley Thompson.

They organized A Claudia Jones 100 Day on 21 February 2015 at Kennington Park Estate Community Centre, including a guided tour of her two main London residences and the former West Indian Gazette office nearby.