September 7, 2009

UPDATED: Van Jones Resignation: A Setback for Young Organizers

Posted by Kristina Rizga at 1:20PM

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UPDATE: A few youth organizers sent in their reactions to the sudden resignation of Van Jones and we wanted to share them with our readers:

Awais Khaleel, Policy Director, The Roosevelt Institute

The Roosevelt Institute has had a long history of working with Van Jones, and we hope to continue to build that working relationship.

Through meaningful policy discussions on local initiatives and national issues, Van Jones blazed an innovative path by engaging with and empowering young people, communities of color, and others groups that are still too often shut out from this process.  During the spring of 2009, the Michigan State University chapter of the Roosevelt Institute worked closely with the office of Mr. Jones in forming a coalition of student environmentalists entitled Code Green. This effort afforded young progressive activists an unprecedented level of access to the green initiatives of this administration. 

This past summer, Van. Jones spoke at the Summit for the 80 Million Strong for Young American Jobs, a coalition on which the Roosevelt Institute proudly co-chairs.  He delivered an inspirational speech on the cross-sections of the obligation to our planet, obligation to our youth, and obligation to one's own entrepreneurial passions. We remain extraordinarily grateful for Mr. Jones' continued dedication to the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network and the 80 Million Strong campaign. 

We thank Van Jones for his service to this nation.  While we are saddened by his departure from the White House, we are confident that Mr. Jones will continue to be a progressive green leader and policy agenda-setter, and stand by him in his coming endeavors.

Tiffiniy Cheng, A New Way Forward

I will be a while before we really see the effects of Van Jones stepping down. But, this kind of political infighting has the immediate ripple effect of making those already unengaged that much more happy they aren't a part of the political process. Shame on the corporate interests and their supporters for making an honest debate impossible.

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Van Jones, the long-time environmental and racial justice advocate resigned from his position as the "Green Jobs" Czar and White House environmental adviser late on Saturday. Many progressives are disappointed with the Obama administration for bowing to conservative criticism of Jones' controversial past comments and actions. (See more reactions: Vibe.com, San Francisco Chronicle and The Nation.)

The news is viewed as a serious set-back among many young progressives, especially young people from low-income or working-class communities who have been advocating for green jobs in the past few years.

For young activists, Jones was the fiercest and most visible preacher of sustainable environment and green jobs. Youth organizer Juan Reynosa, who worked with young people in Albuquerque and in his native rural town of Hobbs, New Mexico, said in December that Jones' message provided proactive solutions that resonated with young people -- such as retrofitting old, polluting buildings, putting on biodiesel-powered concerts and pushing their cities to support green jobs programs.

Pittsburgh native Chester Thrower III was inspired by Jones' idea of self-sufficiency and entrepreneurship. Jones told Thrower that he could be an entrepreneur, that he could run his own business someday. Thrower -- who could think of only four people who owned small businesses in the Manchester neighborhood of Pittsburgh where he grew up -- was inspired, he said in February.

Nationally, there are about 1.7 million low-income youths (aged 16 to 24) who were out of school and out of work in 2005. This group is also the most likely not to have any health insurance. Jones -- the first African-American to write a best-selling environmental book -- helped inspire these hard-to-reach communities. It's hard to think of another individual on the Hill who spent as much time talking and listening to disenfranchised youth.

In late February, more than 10,000 young environmental activists came to D.C. to demand a sustainable energy bill and green jobs. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- the government's plan to rescue the economy -- included more than $60 billion in clean energy investments. Over $500 million of that is allocated to green jobs training initiatives. Jones was helping make sure that these resources reach the neediest communities and his absence leaves a gaping hole for the administration to fill.