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TechnoratiCivil rights activist and Oakland native Van Jones came to OCC Thursday to talk about color and America - not black and white, but green.
Jones spoke to students as part of "Focus the Nation," a teach-in hosted at the community college raising awareness about global warming.
Jones is the founder of the Ella Baker Center, which fights against human rights abuses.
He flew down to speak at the school, not just about saving the world, but how saving the world can save jobs.
Green-collar jobs, as Jones refers to them, are a new opportunity for those getting an education and looking to join the workforce. Not only that, but these jobs can save an economy by providing jobs to the poor, according to Jones.
"You can't take this building and ship it to India," said Jones about refitting buildings to become more energy efficient. Jones envisions "a green economy that fights pollution and poverty."
These aren't pipe dreams, Jones said.
"It's already happening," he said.
It takes three months to get solar panels installed in northern California, and it's not because they don't have enough to go around, Jones said.
"We don't have enough workers trained to install," Jones said. "It's a labor shortage."
Jones' speech centered around the ideals of the daylong event at OCC - finding practical solutions to environmental issues.
Teachers conducted workshops on the economy, science, politics, and policy of global warming while green vendors set up in the quad to discuss issues and potential jobs.
Shane Cutting, 31, is the vice-president of the Student Senate at OCC as well as the president of the Sierra Club on campus, which was one of the event's sponsors.
According to Cutting, the student government endorsed Focus the Nation last semester and organized the event with the help of the Sierra Club.
"It was a lot of groups coming together to make it happen," Cutting said. Cutting, other students and faculty teamed up to attract a crowd for Thursday's event. When it came to finding Jones, it was chance for OCC.
"We saw him in Washington, D.C.," Cutting said. "We decided we would try to bring him."
When they called Jones' office his schedule was filled up (he is going to be doing "The Colbert Report" in a couple of weeks) but Jones found a way to make it.
"They need speakers to get them excited," Jones said.
Copyright © 2008 Daily Pilot
13 Comments so far
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I just read David Kupfer's interview of Van Jones in "The Sun" magazine, and I was really impressed with Mr. Jones' ability to articulate the issues we face and the politics that stand in the way of our journey toward a sustainable civilization. Most, if not all, positive changes are a threat to the power & prosperity of those who have built a successful fiefdom on the exploitive foundations of the previous paradigm - no matter how eagerly we progressives need to speak about "bridge building" to gain access to the resources needed to implement change. So, make no mistake about it: gaining access to resources has a strong political component, and politics tends to be a highly corrosive moral & spiritual arena for competing special interests. Van Jones seems to be wise enough to know where he can be most effective, and we can all hope that he will successfully navigate through the shark-infested waters that lead to Paradise Island. My take on the Green Technology Economy is that WE, as a Nation, must take stock of how our purchasing decisions, daily lifestyles and political choices affect BOTH America's future and our Planet's future. The People need to politicize their consumer spending - voting with their dollars on which institutions they want to surive & prosper, and which they want to change or eliminate. Our money speaks louder than our blogs & emails, and WE can collectively be the "invisible hand" that steers the economy, the government and, ultimately, the "free world". The emerging Green Technology Economy is the culmination of 2000 years of rapid human evolution, and it must become the distillation of all of the progressive, caring, stewardship values that we all pay lip service to. Right now, the Old Paradigm still controls most of the resource allocation system for its own purposes & benefit, but 8 years of Old Paradigm politics & economics has borne bitter fruit that presents us with an excellent opportunity to lobby for change. Let's help articulate & effective people like Van Jones to build a few bridges that lead someplace more healthy, hopeful & sustainable.
I think, that when you realize most of the lackluster perspectives we, as a modernized society, hold toward our environment, while painstakingly and obviously ignorant, are also incredibly fallible and made up of the sort of flash in the pan fluff that comes and goes like the next hip hair do. So with this said it should be incredibly easy to believe a change in mindset, in this regard, is very much possible, if not already occurring.
Authenticity is incredibly attactive! Van Jones oozes it.
"You can smell happiness", Jimi Hendrix.
Beverly: "Van Jones is as political as one can be. So stop acting as though it is a bad thing and help him redefine the political process by getting him whatever support he needs, in or out of office."
Right on Beverly, Pat...all.
30 below here in MinneApolis and I can smell happiness.
Pat:
You are right! The depth of commitment to anything green and to labor by a Democrat in the White House will remain to be seen until day 100 after taking office. Only after the "campaign bills" are paid will we know. But while they are running around screaming green, we should ride the media coat tails and get as much exposure as possible. Orgs like the Apollo Alliance are taking full advantage of the climate by putting pressure on politicians claiming to be green.
I have to say that we had a hugely progressive piece of legislation passed after FDR. The voting rights act might have been the most significant since women's suffrage. And remember, it wasn't as though the elected officials of the day were all that enthusiastic about it. But the political climate made it impossible to avoid. That is what the green labor movement has to do, create an independent tidal wave, let's go with tsunami, of grass roots political will that will carry legislation and change over the heads of weak and unimaginative elected officials.
My fingers and toes are crossed.
Green Pat; I agree with you. I heard Mr. Jones on KPFA and the man is dynamic.
Beverly; If a 'Democrat' is elected in November, I wonder if they'll appoint a pro-worker Labor Secretary?
Somebody who will actually do something for unions for a change. We haven't had any real progressive legislation since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Keeping my fingers crossed.
How many of you are familiar with the Apollo Alliance?
P.S. Van Jones should be secretary of labor!!!! Majora Carter should be secretary of the interior!!!
If Van Jones is going to have an impact and does not enter the political fray, the public will have to pressure elected officials to act own his ideas. The green jobs act is an example of how he can participate in the political process without running for office. But he has to determine how to be most effective. If the non profit sector and advocacy get the job done, then so be it. In any case, he cannot make the green economy and green jobs for all a reality on his own. Activists are going to have to take on the work through every avenue available including elected office...and politics. Van Jones is as political as one can be. So stop acting as though it is a bad thing and help him redefine the political process by getting him whatever support he needs, in or out of office. I'd like to see him as secretary of labor.
oh great, the green movement finally gets a leader, and ya'll want him to enter the cesspool of politics. it might not be a bad idea, but can we at least keep him with us for a while longer?
perhaps the folks planning the isbc should consider this guy.
We need more of Mr. Jones to get the word out about green jobs, etc. I would like to see his message delivered to each and every member of congress, written up in every newspaper in the country and talked about in our schools about how each of us can participate in solving our problems. It certainly is NOT going to come from DC. Also, each candidate should be talking about this important issue so they could give people hope that they will find a job and get paid for it!
Van Jones is a died-in-the-wool activist in the best traditions of MLK ... i stood with him on the streets for the fight to save KPFA, against the Afghanistan/Iraq war and a host of other protests and have never seen anyone who can rally a crowd like he does. He is truly inclusive and hopefully he enters the political fray and seeks elected office.
I have heard Van Jones interviewed also and I agree with Green Pat. While most are obsessed with (and distracted by) the Great Election, it's people like Van Jones who are really changing things for the better.
KPFA radio broadcast this speech by Van Jones and it was way beyond terrific. Keep your eyes on this guy. He tells the truth clearly with a great sence of humor. He has the makings of a great political leader --- a leader of the earth community --- for all the people and those people caring for the earth.