I'm over at Take Back America today and tomorrow, catching up on all the buzz in the progressive community. And there's quite a bit of it this year, with or without a single candidate to put all that energy behind yet. Of course TBA planners couldn't have predicted the ardor of the primary season when they slated this event, but as someone who spends too much time in the thick of the primaries, the biggest benefit of the event so far has been that it reminds us of all the issues and concerns that unite progressives. It's not about Clinton or Obama, it's about health care and green jobs and getting young people excited about politics. And it's those issues that will help make next year's conference "Took Back America," as keynote speaker Van Jones said in the opening plenary session this morning.
Jones is the co-founder of the Ella Baker Center in Oakland, an organization that works to provide opportunities for young people and alternatives to incarceration, as well as the founder of the new group Green for All, which is pushing for a national green jobs plan that creates pathways out of poverty for traditionally marginalized communities. He's the perfect example of what this conference is about: connecting issues, connecting people, and building a movement. In his morning address, he painted this movement as a continuation of the civil rights movement, which wasn't just about fighting against segregation, but about fighting for prosperity, civil rights and peace.
"Dr. King said we have to fight for equal protection and equal opportunity in the last generation," said Jones. "In this generation, the fight is the same."
It's a fight that unites seemingly divergent issues like climate change, economic disparities, and racism.
"We reject the politics of sink or swim," Jones continued. "We will not leave our brothers and sister to sink in the flood waters of storms or economic crisis."
More to come from TBA tomorrow.
--Kate Sheppard
