Ja’Ron Smith Talks Police & Criminal Justice Reform, & Why Violent Protest Isn’t the Answer

White House official Ja’Ron Smith grew up in a low-income family in Cleveland, Ohio. His father shoveled snow and paved roads, while his mother worked at a gas station after struggling for years from an opioid addiction. Now Smith is Deputy Assistant to President Trump. And he sees himself as a voice for the kids he grew up with—kids whose life trajectories turned out very different from his own. Smith has played a key role in advising President Trump on policies to help low-income communities, including opportunity zones, school choice, criminal justice and police reform, and increasing aid to America’s historically black colleges and universities. In this episode, we discuss his efforts to help uplift those who have long been neglected. This is American Thought Leaders 🇺🇸, and I’m Jan Jekielek.