Activism: We're Not Alone When We Work Together (Everyday Citizen)

Van Jones has founded several organizations within the last decade, including The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Green For All. The mission is to help build an inclusive, green economy - strong enough to lift millions of people out of poverty.

Van has worked to combine solutions to America's two biggest problems: social inequality and environmental destruction. He explains,

"The chief moral obligation of the 21st Century is to build a green economy that is strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Those communities that were locked out of the last century's pollution-based economy must be locked into the new, clean and renewable economy. Our youth need green-collar jobs, not jails."

Another activist has worked loyally and tirelessly in the name of the Sierra Club for thirty years, running the organization – the largest of its kind in the country – since 1992. In any other profession, Carl Pope might be considered a "company man." His advice:

"Just take what you love doing, and do it with enough other people to make it the future."

Both of these activists live in the San Francisco Bay Area. They both care intensely about saving the environment. Yet they use very distinct methods - although the lines differentiating their methods now seem to be blurring - from engaging public policy to engaging our economy, from old fashioned door-to-door fliers to broadcasting streaming internet video.

You can hear these activists describe their methods and inspirations in the video below. Here, Pope and Jones discuss the myriad elements effecting our lives today and the many possible solutions that are nearly within our reach:

The video above is "episode 1" of a several part series called "this BRAVE Nation." If you like that video, there's to be more! Four additional episodes will highlight these activists:

Bonnie Raitt & Dolores Huerta: Union Organizing, NAFTA, Human Rights, Feminism, Nuclear Energy, Environmentalism
Pete Seeger & Majora Carter: Hudson River, Urban Renewal, Protest Music, Civil Rights Environmentalism
Anthony Romero & Ava Lowery: New Media, Iraq War, Bush Admin, Civil Liberties, Youth Activism, Gay Rights
Tom Hayden & Naomi Klein: Journalism, Global Economy, NAFTA, Iraq War, Feminism, "The Sixties"

Here's the trailer about future episodes: