Don't Call It a Comeback: Van Jones

On the eve of accepting top honors at the NAACP Image Awards, the former “green jobs czar” defends his record and talks comeback.

Van Jones Sets the Record Straight
by Sheryl Huggins Salomon

Tonight’s NAACP Image Awards telecast isn’t just about recognizing black Hollywood. The group is giving its President’s Award to Van Jones, the erstwhile national “green jobs czar” who was forced out of the Obama administration last year after he became a lightning rod for right-wing ire.

Jones, 41, may be “the most misunderstood man in America,” said NAACP president Benjamin Jealous in an op-ed released to media outlets earlier this week. In it, Jealous cited Jones’ instrumental role in passing the 2007 Green Jobs Act, and his help initiating the Oakland Green Jobs Corp. targeting low-income Californians.

“The real Van Jones story is about how a young leader became the father of the green jobs movement …. Far from the divisive caricature painted by some cable news outlets, Van has been one of America's most effective and inspiring bridge-builders.” Jealous also said.

For Jones, getting the award is the latest step that he has taken to kick off the next phase of his career. “I am looking forward to reintroducing myself to the American people and that’s exciting to have that opportunity,” he told The Root in an exclusive interview. Another step will be leading the Green Opportunity Initiative for the Center for American Progress. He’ll also be a distinguished visiting fellow at Princeton University's Center for African American Studies at its Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

The world will find that although Van Jones is looking for a second chance at public service, he’ll vehemently defend his record to date against all comers. Here’s what he told The Root on the eve of accepting the NAACP President’s Award:

Read the Full Interview @ The Root

Perspectives on the Resignation of Van Jones

Painting by Robert Shetterly, from his Americans Who Tell The Truth series

Time To Knuckle Up:On Van Jones’ Resignation
by Jeff Chang

There’s another story here: no hip-hop head who cares about changing the world is going to be safe from personal attack in the coming years. We’re coming into power now, and that means we’ve got to knuckle up.

Over a decade ago, Van had been involved with an activist collective called STORM, a group that did important work in building the Bay Area youth movement. That movement expanded and transformed, and helped make the Bay a center of hip-hop activism during the 90s, directing attention to police brutality, the prison-industrial complex, youth unemployment, and neighborhood violence in new ways.

In the past several years, Van’s main work has been around green jobs and energy policy. He has largely been working in and with mainline environmental organizations, “safe” organizations, in other words. He even appears as a core figure in pro-globalization writer Thomas Friedman’s new book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America. Van was building national networks and a bipartisan, multiracial consensus. He was a hip-hop gen success story, and when he was appointed to the White House, many of us cheered.

Read the Full Essay @ Can't Stop, Won't Stop

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5 Reasons Why Van Jones and Progressives are Better Off With Jones Out of the White House
by Don Hazen,

The truth is, progressives need Van Jones working on the outside providing vision and leadership, not on the inside with his mouth buttoned.

Read the Full Essay @ Alternet