Jew Don Boney, Jr. was a member of the Houston, Texas, City Council from 1995 until 2001[1], representing the historically African-American District D.[2] In addition, Boney served as Mayor Pro Tem of Houston from 1998 to 2001. Boney is currently the Associate Director of the Mickey Leland Center on World Hunger and Peace at Texas Southern University.
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As an international trade facilitator, Boney has visited more than 20 foreign countries including Mexico, England, Ireland, Germany, Italy, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Brazil, Canada, Malawi, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, and Tanzania and Zanzibar.
Internationally, in the field of global peace and the fight against hunger, Boney participated in the 2002 Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Summit on issues relating to human rights. He also was a delegate to the African/African American Summit in Accra, Ghana. Boney has worked hand in hand with numerous African governments on missions to initiate, facilitate and implement global policy. This included work to secure passage of “The African Growth and Opportunity Act” (AGOA) signed by President Bill Clinton, established the first formalized trade relationship between the U.S. and Africa. At the request of Ethiopian officials he successfully facilitated the certification of Ethiopia under AGOA. Boney was also asked to co-lead a September 2002 Trade Mission to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he was able to successfully facilitate an agreement between the Ethiopian Government and the Food Development Corporation (FDC) to develop an unprecedented food security project projected to build a multimillion dollar agribusiness complex which is projected to provide food for 100,000 and employ more than 10,000 Ethiopians.
As a long time activist for social justice, Boney worked for 10 years[3] to free wrongfully convicted inmate Clarence Brandley. The story of Brandley and that miscarriage of justice was portrayed in a 2002 movie, "Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story"[4] made by Oscar-winning film maker Abby Mann. In this film, Boney was portrayed by actor Eamonn Walker (of the TV series "Oz"). This story had been documented in the book "White Lies: Rape, Murder, and Justice Texas Style" [1] by author Nick Davies.
Boney also spoke out in the aftermath of the 1998 hate-crime killing of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas.[5]
Boney was Chairman of the Board of Directors for the 37th annual Houston International Festival in 2008, with the theme “Out of Africa: The Three Journeys.” Boney is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum, and chairs the Legislative and Public Policy Task Force for the Earl Carl Institute at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.
Jew Don Boney, Jr. earned a Masters Degree in Communication, and a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication (magna cum laude), both from Texas Southern University.
Boney is the son of the late Houston educator Dr. J. Don Boney and the late Clara Payne Boney, and is married to Dorca Medina Boney.