Joan Carol Jones (September 26, 1939 – April 1, 2019) was a Canadian businesswoman and civil rights activist who was born in the United States and raised in Ontario, Canada.
She went seeking work opportunities in Toronto, where she met and married Burnley Jones, a fifth-generation African Canadian whose lineage went back to the late 18th century.
Together in 1965 they formed Kwacha House;[2] Eastern Canada's first inner-city self-help program for the culturally diverse, lower socio-economic population.
[4] When the British moved rebellious Maroons from Jamaica to Sierra Leone they sojourned in farming communities about Nova Scotia before emigrating in 1800, with descendants remaining in Halifax and other cities, leading to a significant population of minorities who complained of discrimination in housing and employment.
Her 1990's column on race relations were regularly printed in the Chronicle Herald of Halifax, which also published a memorial after her death.
She is survived by daughters Tracey and Casey, sons Agassou, Patrick and Shaka, 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.