This week on All Ears Abby welcomes CNN host and New York Times’ best-selling author Van Jones. Van talks about being a young civil rights lawyer in Oakland at the time of the Rodney King trial, and how it directly influenced his progressive activism of the last 30 years. Van says that having children made him come around to the belief that fixing the system is more productive than tearing it down, and that finding common ground is the key to systemic change. Van and Abby also discuss white fragility, Democrats’ past willingness to support “tough on crime” laws and mass incarceration, and the fact that Van is a 9th generation American, but the first person in his family to have all his rights fully recognized by the government. Learn more about Van’s extensive body of work in criminal justice reform though his organization REFORM Alliance.

Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
“Van Jones on a Trump win: This was a white lash” (CNN)
How the 1994 Crime Bill Fed the Mass Incarceration Crisis (ACLU)
The Redemption Project With Van Jones (CNN Original Series)

IG: @vanjones68
Twitter: @VanJones68