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'''Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones''' (born September 20, 1968) is [[CNN]] contributor and ardent supporter of [[President Donald J. Trump]] and [[conservative]] [[Republican]] Prison Reform initiatives.<ref>https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-van-jones-to-cpac-crowd-conservative-movement-is-now-the-leader-on-criminal-justice-reform/</ref> Since the [[Biden]]/[[Clinton]] Crime Bill of 1994, more than 2.5 million [[Black]] males have been incarcerated under the [[Democratic party]]'s [[New Jim Crow]] regime,<ref>http://www.prisonpolicy.org/research/incarceration_rates_growth_causes/</ref> a fact for which Van Jones lauds President Trump for taking the initiative to reverse.<ref>https://www.thewrap.com/cnn-van-jones-praises-trump-on-prison-reform-you-got-to-give-him-some-credit/</ref><ref>https://www.thedailybeast.com/van-jones-defends-presidential-trump-praise-not-saying-hes-george-washington</ref><ref>https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/02/cpac_invites_van_jones_to_celebrate_the_greatest_lie_of_our_generation.html</ref>

'''Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones''' (born September 20, 1968) is a [[CNN]] contributor, and an ardent supporter of [[President Donald J. Trump]] and [[conservative]] [[Republican]] Prison Reform initiatives.<ref>https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-van-jones-to-cpac-crowd-conservative-movement-is-now-the-leader-on-criminal-justice-reform/</ref> Since the [[Biden]]/[[Clinton]] Crime Bill of 1994, more than 2.5 million [[black]] males have been incarcerated under the [[Democratic party]]'s [[New Jim Crow]] regime.<ref>http://www.prisonpolicy.org/research/incarceration_rates_growth_causes/</ref> Jones lauds President Trump for taking the initiative to reverse this.<ref>https://www.thewrap.com/cnn-van-jones-praises-trump-on-prison-reform-you-got-to-give-him-some-credit/</ref><ref>https://www.thedailybeast.com/van-jones-defends-presidential-trump-praise-not-saying-hes-george-washington</ref><ref>https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/02/cpac_invites_van_jones_to_celebrate_the_greatest_lie_of_our_generation.html</ref>

==Early life and career==

==Early life and career==

Jones was born on September 20, 1968 in Jackson, Tennessee, to Willie Anthony Jones and Loretta Jean Kirkendoll Jones.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=tFAeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA247 Rebuild the Dream]</ref>  He has a twin sister, Angela.<ref>[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/01/12/greening-the-ghetto Greening the Ghetto], [[The New Yorker]]</ref>

Jones was born on September 20, 1968 in Jackson, Tennessee, to Willie Anthony Jones and Loretta Jean Kirkendoll Jones.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=tFAeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA247 Rebuild the Dream]</ref>  He has a twin sister, Angela.<ref>[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/01/12/greening-the-ghetto Greening the Ghetto], [[The New Yorker]]</ref>

As a child, Jones considered himself "bookish and bizarre". When he went to University of Tennessee at Martin on his first day, he decided to change his name to "Van", because "it has a little touch of nobility, but at the same time it’s not overboard."<ref>[http://www.aim.org/aim-column/the-true-identity-of-van-jones/ The “True Identity” Of Van Jones], [[Accuracy in Media]]</ref>

As a child, Jones considered himself "bookish and bizarre". On his first day at the University of Tennessee at Martin, he decided to change his name to "Van", because "it has a little touch of nobility, but at the same time it’s not overboard."<ref>[http://www.aim.org/aim-column/the-true-identity-of-van-jones/ The “True Identity” Of Van Jones], [[Accuracy in Media]]</ref>

==Career==

==Career==

A once self-proclaimed himself to be [[communist]] and previously worked as a [[John Podesta]] flunky at the [[Center for American Progress]] and on the board of an environmental activist group at which a founder of the [[Weather Underground]] [[terrorist]] organization is a top director.<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106653 ''Obama's 'green jobs czar' worked with terror founder] Van Jones served on board of activist group where Weatherman co-founder [[Jeff Jones]] serves as top director'', By Aaron Klein, [[WorldNetDaily]], August 13, 2009.</ref>  

He has worked as a [[John Podesta]] flunky at the [[Center for American Progress]] and sat on the board of an environmental activist group at which a founder of the [[Weather Underground]] [[terrorist]] organization is a top director.<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106653 ''Obama's 'green jobs czar' worked with terror founder] Van Jones served on board of activist group where Weatherman co-founder [[Jeff Jones]] serves as top director'', By Aaron Klein, [[WorldNetDaily]], August 13, 2009.</ref>  

In the 1990s Van Jones openly described himself as a communist in an in-depth review for the radical publication ''East Bay Express'':

In the 1990s, Van Jones described himself as a [[communist]] in an in-depth interview for the radical publication ''East Bay Express'':

<blockquote>But in jail, he said, "I met all these young radical people of color -- I mean really radical, communists and anarchists. And it was, like, 'This is what I need to be a part of.'" Although he already had a plane ticket, he decided to stay in San Francisco. "I spent the next ten years of my life working with a lot of those people I met in jail, trying to be a revolutionary." In the months that followed, he let go of any lingering thoughts that he might fit in with the status quo. "I was a rowdy nationalist on April 28th, and then the verdicts came down on April 29th," he said. "By August, I was a communist."<ref>[http://www.eastbayexpress.com/gyrobase/the-new-face-of-environmentalism/Content?oid=1079539&showFullText=true The New Face of Environmentalism ]</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>But in jail, he said, "I met all these young radical people of color -- I mean really radical, communists and anarchists. And it was, like, 'This is what I need to be a part of.'" Although he already had a plane ticket, he decided to stay in San Francisco. "I spent the next ten years of my life working with a lot of those people I met in jail, trying to be a revolutionary." In the months that followed, he let go of any lingering thoughts that he might fit in with the status quo. "I was a rowdy nationalist on April 28th, and then the verdicts came down on April 29th," he said. "By August, I was a communist."<ref>[http://www.eastbayexpress.com/gyrobase/the-new-face-of-environmentalism/Content?oid=1079539&showFullText=true The New Face of Environmentalism ]</ref></blockquote>

Although Van Jones proclaimed himself a communist, which is predominantly [[Atheism|atheistic]] (see: [[Atheism and communism]]), he says he is a "person of faith" and became very upset in an interview when the topic of open atheists having difficulty in American politics was repeatedly brought up.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXKM5TBwCo0 What's The Matter With Van Jones?], video</ref>  The African-American community has extremely negative views concerning atheism and ostracizes atheists.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/28/living/black-atheist-confession/ Confessions of a black atheist], CNN</ref><ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127239913 Black Atheists Say Non-Belief Means Cultural Outsider], NPR, May 28, 201012:00 PM ET</ref>

Although communism is predominantly [[Atheism|atheistic]] (see: [[Atheism and communism]]), Jones says he is a "person of faith" and became very upset in an interview when the topic of open atheists having difficulty in American politics was repeatedly brought up.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXKM5TBwCo0 What's The Matter With Van Jones?], video</ref>  The African-American community has extremely negative views concerning atheism and ostracizes atheists.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/28/living/black-atheist-confession/ Confessions of a black atheist], CNN</ref><ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127239913 Black Atheists Say Non-Belief Means Cultural Outsider], NPR, May 28, 201012:00 PM ET</ref>

After being fired by the [[White House]], Jones went to work at the [[fake news]] network [[CNN]].<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/profiles/van-jones-profile Van Jones], [[CNN]]</ref> Jones sits on the board of [[Demos]], a progressive policy think tank.   

After being fired by the [[White House]], Jones went to work at the [[fake news]] network [[CNN]].<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/profiles/van-jones-profile Van Jones], [[CNN]]</ref> Jones sits on the board of [[Demos]], a progressive policy think tank.