BNV BLACK PEARLS: Two young Tennessee legislators named Justin who took a bold stand

When freshmen Tennessee state legislators Justin J. Pearson, 28, and Justin Jones, now also 28, burst into the national spotlight last spring, many across the country cheered their bravado and audacity. On March 30, thousands peacefully converged on the state Capitol in Nashville to advocate for gun control. Among them were family members of three children and three adults who were killed a few days earlier in a mass shooting at a private Nashville school. Pearson and Jones were denied the normal procedure of welcoming the visitors. In addition, “Whenever I mentioned ‘gun violence,’ I was reprimanded and threatened with censor,” Pearson told NABJ Black News & Views of that day. Fed up, Pearson and Jones decided to advocate for gun control legislation from the well of the Tennessee House, using a bullhorn to address fellow legislators and protestors packed into the Capitol. The supermajority, pro-gun Republican legislature was appalled and voted to expel the two men. On April 6, the entire nation watched as Jones and Pearson were voted out, while more protesters in the House galleries chanted “Shame on you” and “Fascists” to the legislators who voted to expel them. A white female legislator, Gloria Johnson, who accompanied...