"For a lot of people, today is a good day."

I have listened to Van Jones off and on over the last few years and even though I don't agree with everything he says and believes, I have learned to respect his desire to make this country a better place. He is one of the few from the left willing to work with the Whitehouse for change, for the sake of getting something, anything done, to make things better. He took a lot of grief for it, but he didn't do it for himself, he did it because he believed it was better than bickering and blaming and getting nothing done.

Today I wished I could step through my monitor and give him a hug when I watched his response to being asked about his thoughts on the outcome of the election. His emotions poured out, not in anger, not in bitterness, not in spite, but in heartfelt relief and compassion that poured out of him. And while he emphasized that for many people today was a good day, he also said, "I'm sorry for the people who lost, for them, it's not a good day, but for a whole lot of people it is a good day." Not everyone will focus on that line, but to me, it spoke volumes and it was powerful.

I don't feel the same weight of the moment as Van Jones, but I don't live as a person of color during these times either. I can imagine how it must feel, but I can't know it in the same way that Van Jones knows it. Still, seeing the genuineness of his emotion made my heart happy and grieved at the same time. Van Jones, thank you for being real.