American political commentator and lawyer Anthony Kapel Van Jones was born on September 20, 1968, in Jackson, Tennessee.
In 1986, Jones completed his senior year at Jackson Central-Merry High School, a local public high school. He graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Communications (UT Martin).
During this time, Jones also worked as an intern at the Associated Press, the Jackson Sun in Tennessee and the Shreveport Times in Louisiana (Nashville bureau).
When he was 17 and employed at the Jackson Sun, he adopted the nickname “Van.” Jones helped found and run several independent newspapers on the UT Martin campus.
Jones decided not to pursue journalism and moved to Connecticut to enroll at Yale Law School. He was one of several law students selected by the San Francisco-based Lawyers Committee for Human Rights to participate as legal observers in protests sparked by Rodney’s beating and trial King in 1992.
In one incident that was caught on video, King was beaten by police officers. The jury could not agree on a verdict for the fourth officer, with three found not guilty. Jones and other protesters were arrested, but the prosecutor later dropped the charges against Jones.
Jones’ activism was also motivated by the stark racial inequalities she observed in New Haven, Connecticut, particularly regarding the criminalization of drug use.
Jones moved to San Francisco and, in his own words, “tried to be a revolutionary” after earning his Juris Doctor from law school in 1993.
He joined a number of left-wing individuals and co-founded the socialist group Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM).
She organized discussion groups on the teachings of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, participated in protests against police brutality, and imagined a multiracial socialist utopia.
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ToggleCareer of Van Jones
In 2009, Jones worked as special advisor on green jobs to President Barack Obama and was a distinguished visiting scholar at Princeton University.
It’s a pleasure to sit with him @Acosta And @VanJones68 in this week’s episode #FindYourRoots!
If you missed it, you can watch the full episode with the @pbs application or by going to https://t.co/4tNSL8T73f. pic.twitter.com/qQWuUJlkQL– Henry Louis Gates Jr. (@HenryLouisGates) March 30, 2023
His charitable ventures include Color of Change, Dream Corps, and Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, all of which he founded or co-founded.
Three advocacy programs are run by The Dream Corps social justice accelerator: Dream Corps Justice, Dream Corps Tech, and Green for All.
“Crossfire,” “The Messy Truth,” “The Van Jones Show,” and “The Redemption Project with Van Jones” are just a few of the CNN programs Jones has hosted or co-hosted. He is the author of three New York Times bestsellers: “The Green Collar Economy,” “Rebuilds the Dream,” and “Beyond the Messy Reality.”
He is co-founder of Magic Labs Media LLC, which produced the Emmy Award-winning The Messy Truth VR Experience with Van Jones and the WEBBY Award-winning web series Messy Truth. He frequently provides political commentary on CNN.
Jones worked with members of Congress from both parties and the Trump administration to sign into law the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform initiative.
Jones was previously CEO of REFORM Alliance, a criminal justice reform project founded by Jay-Z and Meek Mill. He also served as Prince’s longtime advisor and comrade.
Who are Van Jones’ children?
Van Jones and his ex-wife Jana Carter have two children; Mattai Jones and Cabral Jones. Although they are divorced, the two raise their children together.