A black farmer's fight for equal education in rural Northampton County, NC transforms him and his county in unimaginable ways. An historical film, Chairman Jones tells the story of the director's father, James H. Jones, a self-educated farmer who disregards racism and his lack of education and emerges as a trailblazer during the tense 1969 school desegregation crisis sparked when Northampton County refuses to implement the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision to fully integrate the public schools. Jones leads the fight to end nearly a century of inequality in education. After freeing himself from Jim Crow sharecropping in the 1950's, he launches a relentless campaign to free black children from Jim Crow education.

Jones places his own children on the front lines, brings blacks and whites together for dialog, helps integration tip toe into Northampton, and transforms the educational landscape for everyone. His leadership as North Carolina’s First Black School Board Chairman introduces a new era in education and has a marked effect on racial progress in the State.

Born on a former slave plantation in 1916, Jones died in 1984, the year that the Northampton County school system received accreditation for the first time in its history largely due to his vision and efforts. His story unfolds through his daughter Anna's conversations with those who participated in that movement and witnessed his extraordinary courage and leadership.