Home » Tennessee Rep. Justin J. Pearson on returning to ‘toxic’ legislature, preserving his mental health

Tennessee Rep. Justin J. Pearson on returning to ‘toxic’ legislature, preserving his mental health

by The Grio


After recently being reinstated to his seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives, Rep. Justin J. Pearson is more determined than ever to fight against gun violence and advocate for racial justice in spite of the Republican opposition that expelled him a week ago.

“What we have witnessed in Tennessee is some of the most anti-democratic behaviors of the Tennessee Republican Party and anti-democratic behavior in the United States of America,” Pearson told theGrio in a recent interview.

Pearson along with Democratic State Reps. Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson were brought up on expulsion charges on April 6 after they joined anti-gun violence demonstrators – comprised of mostly schoolchildren – inside the state capitol. 

Pearson, 28, and Jones, 27, were expelled by the mostly white male, Republican-majority House, while Johnson, a 60-year-old white woman, managed to avoid expulsion by just one vote. 

Together, the three lawmakers now known as the Tennessee Three have inspired a national movement that intersects issues of gun violence, race in the South, and what they say is a majority rule that threatens American democracy. 

“We are witnessing the resurgence of a movement for justice led by young people in college, led by teenagers, led by high schoolers who are saying that the status quo is not working,” said Pearson.

While the young activist-turned-politician acknowledges that he and his colleagues in the state legislature “have a responsibility as elected officials to do something” about gun violence, he also understands that he is walking back into a state House that has and will likely continue to be resistant to change. 

“It is a culture that silences the voice of the minority,” explained Pearson. “It limits debate on bills. It prevents people from being recognized in the elevation of our issues and stops us from being able to meaningfully, at times,…

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