
Rep. Justin Jones gestures during a vote to expel him from the state legislature in Nashville, Tenn., in April, for taking part in a gun-control demonstration on the House floor after six people were killed in a mass shooting at a local Christian school. / Seth Herald / Getty Images
One of the Ousted ‘Tennessee Three’ on Democracy
Justin Jones is a Tennessee state legislator representing Nashville. He spoke with Sojourners’ Mitchell Atencio.
What they were trying to do wasn’t just expel us, but the movements we are standing in solidarity with. It’s not ironic that it happened on the day before Good Friday. They tried to crucify democracy and I [was reinstated] the Monday after Easter as a testament to the resurrection of a movement for multiracial democracy here in the South. The resurrection of a Third Reconstruction [is] being led by students and young people — that’s a very powerful vision. If it’s possible here in the South, if it’s possible in Tennessee, that should give us some hope in the nation.
I also think of younger leaders — Rev. Stephen Green, who came from Harlem, showed up, saw what was happening, and was willing to stand with and help coordinate this resistance to an attack on democracy. I think of Rev. Ingrid [McIntyre], one of our younger clergy here in Nashville, a white [clergyperson] who said, “Whatever you need, I will be there; I will stand in the breach.” This is a movement of faith here.
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