Jones-Hogu was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1938, and lived in the city until her death in 2017. She attended Howard University (B.A. 1959), the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (B.F.A. 1964, and the Illinois Institute of Technology (M.S. 1970). Between 2010-2011, Jones-Hogu attended the Governors State University, where she pursued an M.F.A. in filmmaking until her health required her to leave the program. She was also a beloved educator, teaching at Malcolm X College in Chicago for over three decades. Jones-Hogu was an active member in the Chicago community as a member of OBAC (Organization of Black American Culture) and contributed to the Wall of Respect in Chicago in 1967 (a precursor to the formation of AfriCOBRA). AfriCOBRA followed a year later in 1968. Additionally, she served on the board of the South Side Community Art Center in Chicago.

Recently, AfriCOBRA and Jones-Hogu's works have been included in major national and international exhibitions: I.e., We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85 (2017-18) organized by the Brooklyn Museum and traveled to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, and the California African American Museum; and Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power (2017-2019) organized by the Tate Modern in collaboration with (and traveled to) the Fine Arts museums of San Francisco; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; Brooklyn Museum; The Broad; and Museum of Fine Arts Houston. She is also in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brooklyn Museum, MoMA NY, Studio Museum, Tate Modern, among others.