MEDIA WINNER: Van Jones and José Andrés Just hours after being transported to space on Tuesday on Blue Origin’s first human flight, Blue Origin and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced CNN contributor Van Jones and celebrity chef José Andrés as the inaugural recipients of the $100 million Courage and Civility Award. Jones and Andrés will each give $100 million to the charity of their choice or “they can share their wealth. It’s all up to them,” said Bezos during a press conference in Texas following the historic 10-minute space flight that also included his brother Mark Bezos, Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen. Funk, 82, became the oldest person to fly into space 60 years after being denied the opportunity by NASA to do so because of her gender, while Daemen, 18, became the youngest person to travel to space. Jones, obviously well known for his advocacy in addition to his political work, founded the non-profit Dream Corps, focusing on criminal justice reform, environmental issues, and tech equity. "If you take people on front lines and their wisdom and their genius and their creativity and you give them a shot, they're not just gonna turn around neighbors, they're gonna turn around this nation," he said, in emotional remarks on receiving the award. Andrés, the founder of World Central Kitchen, said, “This award itself cannot feed the world on its own, but this is the start of a new chapter for us.” The award is big win for Jones, Andrés, and their organizations of course. It's also a win for the many people who will benefit from that work. It was a good day. |