Van Jones, a prominent political analyst, CNN host, and civil rights advocate, has been at the forefront of social and political discourse for decades. As a former adviser to President Barack Obama and the founder of several nonprofit organizations, Jones has consistently championed causes ranging from environmental justice to criminal justice reform. In this candid interview, the New York Times bestselling writer shares his thoughts on fatherhood, the potential of AI for the Black community, and his vision for a more equitable future.
How has fatherhood changed your perspective?
For my big boys, who are doing so well, they’re both great athletes, they’re both good scholars. They’re both kind to their mom, they’re both good young men. I’m not proud of them. I’m inspired by my sons. They make me want to do better and be better. They are just exemplary young men. That’s the best thing you can hope for as a dad.
… I didn’t have a daughter in my first marriage. I have a daughter now, and it really changes you. It’s really changed me a lot, being the father of a little girl. I just look at the world totally differently. I look at the media differently. I’m looking at all these different messages about how young women’s value comes from how they look and their sex appeal. And I’m like, this is terrible. Before, I was like, yeah, it’s bad. Now, I’m like, this is terrible. Something has to change. I want my daughter to be an astronaut. I want her to be an engineer. I want her to be known for and celebrated for what’s on the inside. And I think being a dad of a young daughter has really changed me a lot.
How significant is it for your daughter to grow up in a world where she might see a president who looks like her?
… My little girl was watching television, and a character came on television who looked like her and had big curly hair like her. And she said, “Look, look, big hair, big hair!” And I looked up. I was like, yeah. I mean, I’ve seen lots of women of color on TV, but she doesn’t watch a lot of television. And she was so excited. She goes, “She has hair like me! She has hair like me, her hair like me!” And she’s like 2 1/2. It’s not like she was studying critical race theory or something like that.
… So, Kamala, the idea that she might grow up where the first president she’s aware of looks exactly like her, I guarantee you that will have a positive impact on her. It will change the neurons in her brain. Being able to see a president of the United States who looks just like her is going to change her expectations in life. She will have some extra medicine in her system that nobody who looks like her has ever had before.
How do you view the rapid advancement of technology and its impact on the next generation?
I grew up with Atari, Pong, Ms. Pac-Man, Asteroids. That was considered cutting-edge stuff, and our parents worried about us because we were going to the arcade and putting in quarters. And they were like, “They [are] teach[ing] you to be gamblers.” There was this whole panic about arcade video games when I was growing up. That stuff now is quaint.
By the time my little kids are teenagers, they’re going to be in wholly immersive worlds. They’re going to have glasses that impose on reality, augmented reality, all kinds of things that we can’t even imagine. And so, I think that makes it more important that we raise our children with traditional values, because you can get so lost in the sauce with all the stuff that’s coming. People could literally just sit in their room and live in a whole different universe through augmented reality, the metaverse. But have you ever touched grass? Do you know what real sunlight feels like? Have you ever touched an actual animal? Have you ever run on the beach? These things that we kind of have taken for granted for 10,000 years of human history may become very, very luxur[ious] experiences in a digital world. Just actually touching real grass.
How can we balance the physical world with the benefits of technology, especially considering your involvement in AI?
I think it’s important for Black folks, in particular, to assume that the AI age is an age that we are going to dominate. We have to assume that. That has to be our intention. It has to be our aim because this is the very first time that you’ve ever had anything called equality. You have not had equality for 400 years. Today, you have equality. Why? Ninety-nine percent of Black folks don’t know anything about AI, and 99% of White folks don’t either. We are all equally ignorant about a brand-new technology that just hit the Earth.
Now you’re going to take the most creative people in the history of the world, Black folks, the most resilient, the most dynamic people, and give us the most powerful technology ever created for free on our phones. We already have it. Y’all better step back, because we took two turntables and a microphone, invented hip-hop, and took over global culture. Now, if the same community with the same problems took two turntables and a microphone, jacked it into a streetlight, and took over global culture, what would we do with AI? What will we do with quantum computing? What will we do with biotech, as long as we have the mindset?
What are your thoughts on the political landscape for Black voters, especially concerning Kamala Harris?
Well, first of all, I’m tired of Black men being criticized, challenged, and blamed for literally everything. I love Kamala Harris. I’ve known Kamala Harris for 30 years. I voted for Kamala as district attorney in San Francisco when we were growing up. I voted for her for attorney general, senator, vice president, and will vote for her for president. And she’s not perfect. I’m not perfect. Nobody’s perfect. So anybody can ask questions or challenge anybody, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The challenge, my frustration, is African American men are going to outvote in favor of Kamala Harris more than any other group in the country, except for one. We’re going to outvote all the White women. Nobody’s mad at the White women. They’re going to be 50-50 for Trump. We will be 82% to 85% for [Harris]. Black men will outvote all the White women, outvote all the White men, who are going to be like 70-30 for Trump. Black men are going to outvote all the Latin folks, male, female and otherwise. Black men are going to outvote all Asians, male, female and otherwise. We’re going to outvote every group in the country to support this sister, except for one group: Black women, who outvote everybody every time. They’re better than everybody anyway. It’s not even a fair fight.
What’s your vision for the future of Black America?
I think it’s time for Black folks to change our mindset. I love Wakanda, I love Black Panther. Why? Because it’s Black folk being Black folk. But with technology, it’s Black folk being Black folk, caring about our ancestors, caring about spirituality, being heroic, but using technology to be the dominant force in the world. In the Marvel superhero universe, Wakanda is the world’s biggest superpower, outshining every country. That should be our goal — let’s make Wakanda real.
I’m working on a campaign with will.i.am to use technology to make the Atlantas, the Detroits, the Chicagos into Wakandas, where we are giving every Black business, every Black college, every Black church, mosque or synagogue, every Black community organization an unfair advantage through AI so that they can create more value, more impact, and more joy quicker than anyone else. When you have that Wakanda mindset, you don’t want pity — you want partnership.
Photography by Mike Melendy
