Jari Jones (born 1991) is an American actress, model, producer, and activist. Jones was a cast member, script consultant, acting coach, and producer of ''

Port Authority A port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other transportation infrastructure. ...

''.

Career

Jones was the first black

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

producer of a film competing at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. In 2020, Jones was one of the nine faces in

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

's 2020 pride campaign. Apart from acting, Jones advocates for

transgender rights The legal status of transgender people varies greatly around the world. Some countries have enacted laws protecting the rights of transgender individuals, but others have criminalized their gender identity or expression. In many cases, transg ...

and is part of the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

movement. Jones is a promoter of self-love, Blackness, and femininity. Jones has been featured in

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

, becoming the first Black transgender woman to display the No Sesso brand on the runway. Jones has modeled for other brands including

Dove Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

in their "Goodbye Judgement, Hello Underarms" campaign and

Elizabeth Suzann Elizabeth Suzann was a slow fashion, direct-to-consumer clothing company founded in 2013. It was based in Nashville, Tennessee. After peaking as an operation with 42 employees and a 10,000-foot warehouse, the company announced its closure in Apri ...

's "Clothing is Political" campaign. She participated in The Real Catwalk in New York City in 2019. Jones is featured on Calvin Klein's YouTube channel to express her support for LGBTQ+ youth. She is a self-proclaimed, "mom to a whole bunch of queer youth." She has written for ''

Nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', '' Allure'', and ''

Out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...

'' magazine focusing on the representation of queer, transgender, and people of color in the media. She was featured in

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's ''

Tales of the City ''Tales of the City'' is a series of ten novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2024, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBTQ. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally seri ...

'' series. She is the first black trans producer to have a film in the

. The film, ''

'', also included the first trans woman of color, Leyna Bloom, in a lead role.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links