One of the main reasons I wanted to be apart of a blog looking at masculinity was to share stories about ordinary men living extra-ordinary lives.

Van Jones has been on my mind for months, actually ever since i heard a podcast on Rabble.ca.  For me, Jones not only dissolves old debates of jobs v.s the environment, he does so with while committing to inclusiveness and solidarity with all people and a reverence for life.

Jones is an African-American activist who's leadership encircles crime, poverty, pollution, jobs, entrepreneurship, global warming, healthy neighbourhoods, youth engagement, and national idealism.  He's a leader because he's writing books like The Green Collar Economy and inspiring a new generation that is ready to save the polar bear and the homeless left out in the cold.

Living in a world of divisions, political 'isms', apathy, greed, and bleak reports of social, political, economic, and environmental trends, Jones asks us to dream with him and those who have already struggled for a better world.  In a different podcast he says:

And I think, often, we on the Left are the ones who give up on the country, and give up on the ideals of the country, and kind of fall, without really knowing it, into this politics of cynicism, resignation, accusation; and we forget--and I've said it a million times--Dr. King didn't give a speech called, "I Have A Complaint." That wasn't the speech. It was, "I Have A Dream." This guy had been stabbed at that point, seen dogs sicced on them. He had a lot worse days than we do, and he was still willing to stand up and say, "I still have a dream for the country."

So, for me, you go overseas, you recognize your responsibility to the country. You come back to the country, you realize you can't move this country by yelling at it, and hating everybody, and burning flags. You've got to actually use that flag to wrap people up in a warm blanket and go somewhere together. That's a long journey for me from where I was five years ago, or ten years ago, but I think the stakes are that high now that I am willing to forgo my right--I have a right to be mad at America--and I am willing to put that down. I'm willing to put that down in the pursuit of a better tomorrow for my son.

Wow.  This is the kind of courage and strength I think guys can measure themselves against.  Trading in the tough-fronting and the cool-detachment for a connection that is rewarding and revolutionary. Jones is am amazing speaker and organizer who knows we're all stuck on this earth together and tells us why the story and attitude of Noah's Ark is as valuable right now as the traditional one between David and Goliath.

What i like most about Van Jones is his empathy and nurturance towards people and the planet.   Not many powerful men talk about healing and uniting, but what a wonderful world we would live in if more did.  At the core of his work is the concept and practice of reverence and this lets him bridge many problems into common solutions. In the Orion he notes:

A reverence movement is, at the end of the day, taking corrective steps to further enhance the beauty of others and the beauty of yourself.

Putting a generation of kids in a prison is like clear cutting a forest. We deeply believe we have a throwaway planet--throwaway species, resources, neighborhoods, nations, continents. Young people and adults in prison have been thrown away as well. Once they're outside the circle of people who deserve dignity and respect, then they can be preyed upon.

Jones credits Aqeela Sherrills for starting and celebrating a Reverence Movement and teaches us about both the pain and promise of North American freedom.

What Aqeela has been trying to say is that it is that quality of real reverence for life that will keep you from shooting somebody in the neighborhood, or that will keep you from destroying the planet environmentally based on your consumer choices. That ability to stand in awe and reverence for what a precious gift it is, just to be alive, and just to share this planet with so many other beautiful sister and brother species and nations and neighborhoods. Just that quality of reverence, that is really the gateway through which we can begin to rediscover our capacity to do good.

We have kind of been in this trance of consumption and competition, and consumption and competition have their place, but it has just been out of balance, and the idea of protection and nurturance and cooperation and solidarity, and really believing that there is something precious about everything and everyone, that is not too fashionable right now. That's kind of corny, and I think there's a way to make it cool again to care, I think, re-engaging the country based on our idealism as a country. The U.S. is such a mixed bag; it is sort of a schizophrenic country in that we are founded on stolen land and stolen labor, and yet with these high ideals from the beginning.

My hope - ok, how about my dream - is that this masc blog can be filled up with more examples of men doing wonderful things and doing them in ways that go beyond too-cool-to-care stereotypes and that are rooted in our common love of life.  Jones holds both his critique and anger of American society with a commitment to go against many odds and work for a better world.  I encourage you to listen to his podcasts and tell me if you think he's got a beautiful mix of courage and compassion.

Who else should we know about?  What other guys are living this life of courage and compassion?

*****

Paul does various media education workshops looking at gender, consumerism, militarism, and the environment.  He's on the look out for inspiring male role models.