Matthew Jones was a schooled, experienced musician, and became active in the
Civil Rights Movement when he joined the
Nashville Student Movement in 1960. Jones was an outspoken participant in the movement in
Danville, Virginia, where he organized another vocal group, the Danville Freedom Voices, in 1963. Jones relocated to
Atlanta, Georgia, with his brother Marshall, who was also affiliated with the
SNCC and their music ensemble, the Freedom Singers. Matthew Jones faced down the
Ku Klux Klan on many occasions and endured 29 arrests during the Civil Rights Movement. His experiences developed him into a "
freedom singer" in the most literal manner. "I don't think of myself as a cultural worker," Jones said. "I am a freedom singer; a freedom fighter. I've always been a freedom fighter; I'll probably go down that way, too. Freedom songs are different than other protest songs because they are really a
mantra. The use of repetition allows for the message to be understood. If we sing a powerful statement enough times in a song, like 'This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine,' then we can internalize it". ==Later life==