Have you ever met someone who seemed to embody compassion and optimism? Who was clearly devoted to making the world a better place for everyone, and who inspired you to do the same?
My geeky fan pic with Van Jones
I have. Each time I saw Van Jones give a speech at Green Festival, or conduct an interview with me (once for Green Festival TV and once for “Keep It Green”) about building a vibrant green economy, I came away bursting with optimism and energy.
Jones has a way of combining passion and humor with logical solutions that always got me thinking, “How can people not agree about the benefits of building a green economy?” It always seemed like such a win-win-win: protect the environment, reinvigorate the economy and lift people out of poverty.
But, to be honest, there are a lot of amazing green leaders, thinkers and activists with very logical solutions to the problems we’re facing. One of the things that makes Jones stand out is his positive attitude. I never sensed bitterness or disdain towards his opponents – he always made me feel like we could connect all types of people from every background and political persuasion to make lasting change. And he was dedicated to doing that himself.
This is why his resignation as green jobs advisor to the White House Council on Environmental Quality saddens me so much.
I feel like a dear friend has been hurt, even though we only met a handful of times. And I feel such a sense of loss for this country – for what he could have accomplished in the administration.
Blogger Jack Turner on Jack & Jill Politics speaks to these feelings as well (excellent post, please check out the whole thing):
Van Jones was one of the good guys. A really, really good guy… He connected the dots and inspired action and had a vision. He was the rare outsider who got a chance to move inside, and move he did….Van, however, was truly one of us. He got it. And to give someone like him power gave me more faith in the president.
When a friend forwarded me one of (ugh…I actually don’t even want to write his name) Glenn Beck’s… (there) diatribes against Jones, I laughed. I thought it was ridiculous – the scary music, the faux-grainy footage. It seemed so obviously fear-mongering, distorted, emotional-button-pushing absurdity – i.e. typical GB and FoxNews – that I assumed Jones and, more importantly, Pres. Obama would simply stand their ground and counteract the lies and distortions with calm, sensible responses.
And, then, as the media firestorm ignited, Jones resigned. I’m more disappointed in Obama than anyone else. This sends such a poor message to his supporters and his opponents – that fear tactics, lies, distortions and smear campaigns will force out the kind of innovative, brave, forward-thinking leaders we need so badly right now.
Again, Jack says it so well:
I’m heartbroken over Van’s departure because it’s these little meaningless concessions that undermine people’s faith in the system. You get folks all riled up about change. You empower a man who embodies that change. And then you let him be run out of office by fucking Glenn Beck?
I’m sad, I’m angry and I’m disappointed – in the Glenn Becks of this country and in our own Democratic leadership.
The bittersweet of it is that, I know, the next time I see or hear or read Van Jones, he’ll be encouraging me to dig deeper, to bring compassion and heart to this struggle, and to never lose hope. He won’t give up because of this; he won’t turn vicious or bitter or nasty in his activism. He’ll just keep working. And so will we.
