Van Jones's banner
Van Jones's profile picture

Van Jones

@VanJones68865,368 subscribers

DAD // @CNN // 3X NYT bestseller // @magiclabsmedia🎙 Subscribe to my Substack

Shorts

Our nation’s young people face a dual crisis: growing mental health challenges AND limited access to care. The Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC) is responding with a scalable solution and Dream Machine Innovation Lab is proud to support this nationwide effort. In Year 2, YMHC is deploying 600 trained young adults to schools and communities in 11 states — expanding on a model already proven to reduce behavioral referrals, boost attendance, and break down stigma around seeking help. This initiative doesn’t just address today’s needs. It’s building tomorrow’s behavioral health workforce — diverse, community-connected, and deeply motivated. Learn more and join us: #YMHCYear2

Our nation’s young people face a dual crisis: growing mental health challenges AND limited access to care. The Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC) is responding with a scalable solution and Dream Machine Innovation Lab is proud to support this nationwide effort. In Year 2, YMHC is deploying 600 trained young adults to schools and communities in 11 states — expanding on a model already proven to reduce behavioral referrals, boost attendance, and break down stigma around seeking help. This initiative doesn’t just address today’s needs. It’s building tomorrow’s behavioral health workforce — diverse, community-connected, and deeply motivated. Learn more and join us: #YMHCYear2

205,218 views

Videos

VanJones68's profile picture

I'm tired of being told that, to be a progressive, I now must swear allegiance to crazy ideas. I'm a strong Democrat, with a winning bipartisan track record. I'm rooted in progressive ideals and policies: criminal justice reform, Green New Deal, Medicare for All, free education, clean air and water. These are ideas I have fought for my entire adult life. But some people in groups like the DSA are pushing an agenda FAR outside those ideals. Supporting Hamas is not progressive. "No police, no prisons, no borders" is not progressive. Celebrating the murder of Israeli civilians is not progressive. These ideas are REGRESSIVE. If there were no police or prisons, if anyone in your neighborhood could do whatever they wanted, while politicians cheered on terror groups — would that represent PROGRESS to you? No, that would be a step back. Those are REGRESSIVE ideas. On the other hand, if everybody could see a doctor when they got sick, get a good, free education and breathe clean air — would that represent progress? Yes. Those are PROGRESSIVE ideas. They are NOT the same thing. And the difference matters. Some defend the far left by claiming they only want Nordic-style social democracy. If that were true, I might applaud them. I want those policies, too! But what does universal healthcare have to do with Hamas? With abolishing all law enforcement? With erasing all borders? With treating every wealthy person as a villain? Ideas matter. And these are terrible ideas. Right now, extremists are trying to sneak backwards proposals into our party, hoping mainstream Democrats are too frustrated with MAGA and the Democratic Party establishment to notice. But we see you. Yes, we want our Democratic Party to be a big tent. But we don’t need "party poopers. So STOP pooping in the punch bowl — and telling us the turds are ice cubes. They aren't. And we are smart enough to know the difference. 💩

Van Jones

161,244 views • 3 hours ago

VanJones68's profile picture

Hasan Piker says the designated terrorist organization Hamas is 1,000 times better than Israel. His statement outraged many — who now just want to write him off. That's a mistake. He has a massive audience and is emerging as one of the major voices of his generation. Those of us who disagree owe him — and his audience — a real argument. Here's mine … And my position doesn’t come from ignorance about oppression. For a big chunk of my life, I was a grassroots activist — because of the pain of my own people. During those years, I was lucky enough to learn from elders who had been in the Black Panther Party, in SNCC, in the ANC. These were people who had to choose whether to pick up the gun — and how to use it if they did. They taught me this: even in armed struggle, there are principles. No women. No children. No rapes. No kidnapping. Mandela held that line. Amílcar Cabral held that line. You don't become what you're fighting. Hamas fails that test. They are not fighting for MORE freedom for Palestinians. They're fighting for less. They want theocracy, not democracy. And their means? They don’t use principled armed struggle (hitting military targets). They use terrorism (targeting civilians). The vast majority of Americans — including those who sympathize with the Palestinian cause — reject terror tactics. Reasonable people would agree on three principles: secure homelands for both peoples; no hatred for Jews or Muslims; and protection for all civilians. Hamas’ approach undermines all three. That's the conversation Piker's audience deserves. Not name-calling.

Van Jones

1,713,245 views • 2 months ago

VanJones68's profile picture

The Democratic Socialists of America are winning elections — and sending waves of joy and terror through the Democratic Party. A little historical context might be useful. Before you celebrate or panic, there’s a lot to learn here. The Party’s past tells a story that’s getting lost in all the noise. It's both more hopeful, and more cautionary, than either side probably wants to admit. First, in some ways, there are elements of history repeating itself in the aftermath of an unpopular war. The Vietnam War gave Democrats Bill and Hillary Clinton. The Iraq War gave Democrats Barack Obama. The Gaza War is giving Democrats a new wave of candidates. Second, the physics of politics made it inevitable that some kind of “far left” reaction was coming in reaction to the “far right” movement of Donald Trump and MAGA. This kind of development also has a history. For example: Occupy Wall Street was the left’s reaction to the financial crisis — but also to the right-wing Tea Party. Third, different global conflicts tend to put in harm’s way different ethnic groups domestically. - After the Vietnam War and during the 1980s trade tensions with Japan, Asian Americans were under suspicion and threat. - After 9/11, American Muslims were in acute danger. (And Islamophobia continues to be a serious problem— from Trump’s Muslim ban through the recent murderous attacks on Palestinian Americans.) - Today, statistically speaking, it’s the American Jews who are on the hot seat. Bias crimes against them have skyrocketed at a rate that surpasses that of all other groups — by a lot. This sad, dangerous pattern of an ethnic group being scapegoated and targeted during a global conflict is all-too-familiar. And as always: it must be vigorously denounced and opposed. One important thing to note: even if you reject their ideology, there is room to admire the energy and idealism of the young people who are challenging the Democratic Party. At least they are participating in the system, not burning things down. That said, there are elements and ideas in the DSA movement that are repulsive, outrageous and dangerous. In my next video, I will spell them out. Let me know what you think about this video in the comments below.

Van Jones

43,638 views • 6 days ago