Van Jones, the American political commentator is in the news again, though this time, not for his political views. The recent birth of his daughter has put his personal life into focus, including his son Mattai Jones. So let’s dive into who Mattai Jones is, and what Van Jones’ family is all about.
Who is Van Jones?
Van Jones is a famous American Political commentator who came into prominence during the 2016 presidential campaign. Eventually, he became a special advisor to President Obama, cementing his place in the American political system. Recently, he has also worked with the Trump administration to bring reforms into place.
Today, he has his own TV shows and is seen most prominently on CNN. Along with that, Van Jones is a fairly regular, and popular guest star on shows like ‘The Daily Show, and Real Time with Bill Maher. Though his awards list’s pretty extensive, he was recently awarded an Emmy for his show ‘The Messy Truth VR Experience with Van Jones.’
The progressive activist has also won many other awards for his environmentalist work. Eventually, he has shown up in Time Magazine, The rolling stone, and dozens of others for leadership awards.
Van Jones has also written books on policies and Politics, one of which was applauded by Al Gore, and another which is currently a New York Times Bestseller.
Family Life
Van Jones married Jana Carter who is an entrepreneur and attorney in 2005. After 13 years of marriage, they divorced in 2018. The couple has two sons Mattai Jones, the oldest of the two, and Cabral Jones.
TMZ reported that though their divorce was finalized in 2018 they had been separated already in May.
The divorce between Jones and Carter was reported to be amicable, with Carter asking for joint custody of their children, and she also asked for spousal support.
Jones also spoke to People news saying that there was no ill feeling or beef between the two. He said that they went their separate ways because they had evolved into different people.
For him this still meant raising the children together, running their businesses together as well as supporting each other through life.
Recently in 2022, after the divorce, he also had a daughter with his long-time friend Noemi Zamacona. Jones was reported saying, that the Lockdown gave him the time to realize that he wanted more children.
He said, “after the COVID lockdown, I got clear that I wanted another kid. It’s a concept that I hope more people will explore and consider.”
Mattai Jones
Not much is known about his sons because he prefers to keep them safe from the limelight.
Mattai Jones, his eldest son, seems to be in college now according to the posts on social media by his father Van Jones. It seems that Mattai is also into sports and music.
The name Mattai Jones comes from the name of a Kenyan activist Wangari Maathai. It is no surprise because his own father has worked in a similar position.
Wangari Maathai was a champion of the green belt movement. He fought for tree planting, environmental protection, and women’s rights. Considering that Van Jones advised President Obama on Green Jobs, and has written books about the impact of ecological disasters the name is absolutely fitting.
The New Family
In 2022 Van Jones had a daughter with his friend. As of yet, the name has not been released to the public.
Noemi is a death penalty mitigation specialist investor and supervisor. She also works as the department custody monitor at the Los Angeles County sheriff’s office. She went to college at the University of California Santa Cruz and graduated from the department of psychology.
She has now been practicing for more than 6 years due to her job as an investigator.
Noemi is Mexican and hails from Zacatecas, but lives and works in the United States.
Van Jones and Noemi Zamacona, have made conscious co-parents a new buzzword. It means to be platonic co-parents. Instead of having a romantic relationship, and then breaking up to be co-parents, platonic co-parents consciously decide to be parents instead of lovers. Thus, the concept of conscious co-parenting was born.
A lot goes into being a parent, and according to Jones and Zamacona, this can be done without the added pressure of having to build and maintain a romantic relationship.
Van Jones’ ex-wife is on board, and there don’t seem to be any comments suggesting otherwise. In fact, Jones and his ex-wife still seem to be great friends and co-parents together.
Today platonic parenting seems to be on the rise because people do not want to keep waiting for the One to fulfill their dreams. Many recognize that though they might be ready for children and might even be good parents they cannot find a romantic partner.
Instead of following the steps that society deems proper, many are taking to having children with friends they think would make great parents, even if they don’t make great partners.
In the CNN network, Jones isn’t the only one who has chosen to go this way of raising children and having a family. Anderson Cooper recently announced that he and his best friend had a second child. They too are platonic co-parents.
Noemi put up a post of their baby daughter, saying that she is very happy to welcome Earth this daughter of theirs and that more people should look into conscious parenting. She also asked for privacy in these early days.
Possibly because social media has been eating up their story and wants more information constantly.
Right after having a baby, such significant media attention can be jarring to those who are not used to it. Noemi asked for peace and quiet on the post so that they could take this time to heal and grow together.
