September 26, 2025 • 8 mins
Rep. Justin Pearson (D-TN) discusses the challenges facing Black Americans during the second Trump administration.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm Andrea Coleman with the Black Information Network at the
Congressional Black Caucus Foundations fifty fourth Annual Legislative Conference, and
we are talking with Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson. I
mean you like we know you nationally because what you've
been through a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So hello and welcome, Hello, and thank you so much
for having me. I'm going to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, so bring us up to date. What's been going on?
So you were expelled from the state House in twenty
twenty three, voters brought you back shortly thereafter, and so
what's been going on now in those chambers for you since?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, So we got re elected with ninety four percent
of the vote, which I'm really grateful about, and have
since continued our work to end the gun violence epidemic
in our country. Here's child is still more likely under
the age of eighteen to die from a bullet than
cancer or a car wreck or anything like that, and
it's an epidemic of mass proportion that we have to
do something about. Similarly, we've continued our work at environmental
(00:55):
and climate justice, realizing that if the air that we
breathe is toxic. The lives that we leave are going
to be as productive as we know they should be,
or God hasn't drained for them to be. And so
that fight has led us into actually taking on Elon Musk,
who's built a plant illegally polluting in our neighborhood and
in our community. In addition to an issue that I
know we could spend some time talking about with this
(01:17):
authoritarianism from the Trump administration, Governor Bill Lee that's continued
to deteriorate our democracy for their own benefit and really
for the maintenance of white supremacy. Well, let's stop.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
There for a moment because Memphis, which is you know,
a Tennessee city in Tennessee, is on the list of
the president's next stop for sending in National Guard. Your
thoughts on that and where do you stand it? I
know there's a public statement that you made denouncing the
move and actually asking the governor to revoke his support
(01:49):
of it. So where do things stand regarding the deployment
our impending employment right?
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I mean, now it's imminent. The governor was in Memphis
today at a press conference saying that they'll be here
next and so this is a very real problem for us,
and I'm grateful to all the organizations like Free the
nine oh one who have built up and who have
built a real powerful coalition to resist this authoritarianism, because
this is just a first step. When they start after
(02:14):
our elections in the midterms for the next presidential election,
they're going to be going to black led cities telling
us really standing at the polls, I think, in fatigues
and with firearms, asking us are you sure you really
want to vote? So we can't take this lightly. It
has nothing to do with crime. It has to do
with the maintenance of an ideology of black criminality and
supporting the pillars of white supremacy, which is control and
(02:35):
authority over black communities. We are fighting back and standing
up many of the elected officials and community organizations, but
it's a real fight that we're in.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, So what goes into that fight? Because when you
think about the federal government, you think they are already
have a lot of power and authority, right, but when
the governor is welcoming them into the state, then does
that limit your recourse to some degree?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Different tactic than we've seen in other places around the
country where they've been pushed back due to really being
told that they can't do what they were doing II
in California as an example, and they were rebuffed in
Chicago and in Illinois, and going to a Republican led
state is a part of the new tactic and just
targeting black majority cities, So that does make it challenging
more difficult, but nothing is more powerful than communities. And
(03:21):
so even if we cannot prevent the National Guard from coming,
what we can do is build stronger communities in stronger
neighborhoods to not allow for them to abuse or misused
the constitution because it still exists, despite the fact that
some folks don't want it to. And so we're doing education,
We're doing training, teaching people about their rights and making
sure that our communities are prepared for what is to come.
I don't want to see any of our citizens, any
(03:42):
one in our district, being hurt or harmed by these
decisions that we don't want, and it is important that
the more informed we can be and the more we
continue to collaborate is going to be part of our resistance.
We're getting street captains, we're doing block parties, we're doing
events at people's homes. I know your rights events in
people's homes. We have to be creative in our organizing
(04:03):
and a lot of the work that was done by
Free DC is a template that I think many people
on organizers in our city are using.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Are you surprised when the President said Memphis?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Yeah, my first thought was keep Memphis. Name that Joe
mouth May. It don't sound right in the mouth of
the president. He's a racist and this targeting of black
cities is sickening. And instead of giving us billions of
dollars in resources, we're told the only thing you all
deserve is more policing. The only thing you deserve is
the National Guard. But what we want a gun violence
(04:34):
prevention laws. I got expelled. Every time that I send
legislation before the governor for billions of dollars of investment,
it gets kicked back. We are never given the poverty
eradication that we want, but we're told we need military
occupation that we don't.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, how do the people in Memphis feel?
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I think a lot of people are scared, upset, frustrated,
and some folks are exasperated. Gun violence is a real problem.
We're tired of going to funerals, We're tired of seeing
people dying. I've lost a classmate to gun violence. People
are tired of losing their families. But we know that
the root causes aren't going to be addressed by sending
in National guards folks. Is not going to be addressed
by political stunts and being treated as pawns. It's only
(05:12):
going to be if we tackle the root causes of
the problem. Because again, if they leave in six months
or a year or two years, you're still left with
the root causes at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, when looking at now, I know it involves and
impacts everyone, right, people of all ages, of cultures, racist,
so forth. But for you all in the gen Z
population and group, what is your hope for your generation?
What does this moment speak to you about your future?
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yeah, I mean one of the key mottos that we're
working right is like we were made for this moment.
And I believe that the work that has been done
by the ancestors, the work done by the forerunners in
the fight for justice and racial justice, social justice, economic
justice in our country, or what we look to the
activism and the advocacy that we have now in this moment,
(06:04):
it is not a new thing. It's a very old thing.
It started in the brush harbors or cotton fields, and
to back up plantations. It continued in reconstruction and persistent
despite mass incosceration, and even in this moment where inheritors
of a legacy of resistance and persistence against oppression. And
I believe that the future that we pass forward is
going to be one that's better because just as our
(06:24):
ancestors did not quit, neither shall we.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, that's very good. Any any more messages or another
message or any additional message you'd like to share with
our listeners about now? And I guess what's on your
heart and what's on your mind.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Yeah, we have to pay attention. I think so many
things are happening that we can become apathetic to what's
going on. And it isn't because we don't care or
aren't concerned. It's just it's overwhelming. Right, every day you
turn on the news, it's something else, it's someone else,
it's something else you know, and it can exhaust you.
(06:56):
But we have to keep paying attention. And we pay
attention through the lens of people who are most oppressed. Yeah,
you don't pay attention to the lens as an educated
person or with a doctor degree, or with wealth or privilege,
but pay attention to say, how is this hurting the
most marginalized? How is this hurting people who've been pushed
to the periphery. For we don't lift the people who've
been pushed to the bottom, if we don't lift the
(07:17):
voices that are consistently being silenced, we are going to
destroy the democracy that so many people have fought and
died for us to keep. And so even when it
is hard, even when it is difficult, we have to
stay cognizant about what is going on and resist and persist.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Wow, well you're such a vision of hope. We just
so appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
You give me hope, I give you hope. It's reciprocess
there you go.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Yeah, Well, we thank you so much, and thank you
again for talking with us. I know we've had several
interviews with you today and so thank you for this
last one. It's really been a pleasure speaking with you,
and I look at you as well as Maxwell Frost,
and for some reason, you guys just inspire us. So
thank you so much for all you're doing you. Yeah, yeah,
very good. All right, justin Pearson, Tennessee, state representative there
(08:01):
who is holding the fork down. I'm Andrea Coleman with
the Black Information Network at the Congressional Black CLAWCUS Foundation's
fifty fourth Annual Legislative Conference.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Again.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
We've been talking with Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson, and
we'll have more conversations with our congressional leaders and others
coming up
Good afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm Andrea Coleman with the Black Information Network at the
Congressional Black Caucus Foundations fifty fourth Annual Legislative Conference, and
we are talking with Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson. I
mean you like we know you nationally because what you've
been through a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So hello and welcome, Hello, and thank you so much
for having me. I'm going to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, so bring us up to date. What's been going on?
So you were expelled from the state House in twenty
twenty three, voters brought you back shortly thereafter, and so
what's been going on now in those chambers for you since?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, So we got re elected with ninety four percent
of the vote, which I'm really grateful about, and have
since continued our work to end the gun violence epidemic
in our country. Here's child is still more likely under
the age of eighteen to die from a bullet than
cancer or a car wreck or anything like that, and
it's an epidemic of mass proportion that we have to
do something about. Similarly, we've continued our work at environmental
(00:55):
and climate justice, realizing that if the air that we
breathe is toxic. The lives that we leave are going
to be as productive as we know they should be,
or God hasn't drained for them to be. And so
that fight has led us into actually taking on Elon Musk,
who's built a plant illegally polluting in our neighborhood and
in our community. In addition to an issue that I
know we could spend some time talking about with this
(01:17):
authoritarianism from the Trump administration, Governor Bill Lee that's continued
to deteriorate our democracy for their own benefit and really
for the maintenance of white supremacy. Well, let's stop.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
There for a moment because Memphis, which is you know,
a Tennessee city in Tennessee, is on the list of
the president's next stop for sending in National Guard. Your
thoughts on that and where do you stand it? I
know there's a public statement that you made denouncing the
move and actually asking the governor to revoke his support
(01:49):
of it. So where do things stand regarding the deployment
our impending employment right?
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I mean, now it's imminent. The governor was in Memphis
today at a press conference saying that they'll be here
next and so this is a very real problem for us,
and I'm grateful to all the organizations like Free the
nine oh one who have built up and who have
built a real powerful coalition to resist this authoritarianism, because
this is just a first step. When they start after
(02:14):
our elections in the midterms for the next presidential election,
they're going to be going to black led cities telling
us really standing at the polls, I think, in fatigues
and with firearms, asking us are you sure you really
want to vote? So we can't take this lightly. It
has nothing to do with crime. It has to do
with the maintenance of an ideology of black criminality and
supporting the pillars of white supremacy, which is control and
(02:35):
authority over black communities. We are fighting back and standing
up many of the elected officials and community organizations, but
it's a real fight that we're in.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, So what goes into that fight? Because when you
think about the federal government, you think they are already
have a lot of power and authority, right, but when
the governor is welcoming them into the state, then does
that limit your recourse to some degree?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Different tactic than we've seen in other places around the
country where they've been pushed back due to really being
told that they can't do what they were doing II
in California as an example, and they were rebuffed in
Chicago and in Illinois, and going to a Republican led
state is a part of the new tactic and just
targeting black majority cities, So that does make it challenging
more difficult, but nothing is more powerful than communities. And
(03:21):
so even if we cannot prevent the National Guard from coming,
what we can do is build stronger communities in stronger
neighborhoods to not allow for them to abuse or misused
the constitution because it still exists, despite the fact that
some folks don't want it to. And so we're doing education,
We're doing training, teaching people about their rights and making
sure that our communities are prepared for what is to come.
I don't want to see any of our citizens, any
(03:42):
one in our district, being hurt or harmed by these
decisions that we don't want, and it is important that
the more informed we can be and the more we
continue to collaborate is going to be part of our resistance.
We're getting street captains, we're doing block parties, we're doing
events at people's homes. I know your rights events in
people's homes. We have to be creative in our organizing
(04:03):
and a lot of the work that was done by
Free DC is a template that I think many people
on organizers in our city are using.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Are you surprised when the President said Memphis?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Yeah, my first thought was keep Memphis. Name that Joe
mouth May. It don't sound right in the mouth of
the president. He's a racist and this targeting of black
cities is sickening. And instead of giving us billions of
dollars in resources, we're told the only thing you all
deserve is more policing. The only thing you deserve is
the National Guard. But what we want a gun violence
(04:34):
prevention laws. I got expelled. Every time that I send
legislation before the governor for billions of dollars of investment,
it gets kicked back. We are never given the poverty
eradication that we want, but we're told we need military
occupation that we don't.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, how do the people in Memphis feel?
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I think a lot of people are scared, upset, frustrated,
and some folks are exasperated. Gun violence is a real problem.
We're tired of going to funerals, We're tired of seeing
people dying. I've lost a classmate to gun violence. People
are tired of losing their families. But we know that
the root causes aren't going to be addressed by sending
in National guards folks. Is not going to be addressed
by political stunts and being treated as pawns. It's only
(05:12):
going to be if we tackle the root causes of
the problem. Because again, if they leave in six months
or a year or two years, you're still left with
the root causes at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, when looking at now, I know it involves and
impacts everyone, right, people of all ages, of cultures, racist,
so forth. But for you all in the gen Z
population and group, what is your hope for your generation?
What does this moment speak to you about your future?
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yeah, I mean one of the key mottos that we're
working right is like we were made for this moment.
And I believe that the work that has been done
by the ancestors, the work done by the forerunners in
the fight for justice and racial justice, social justice, economic
justice in our country, or what we look to the
activism and the advocacy that we have now in this moment,
(06:04):
it is not a new thing. It's a very old thing.
It started in the brush harbors or cotton fields, and
to back up plantations. It continued in reconstruction and persistent
despite mass incosceration, and even in this moment where inheritors
of a legacy of resistance and persistence against oppression. And
I believe that the future that we pass forward is
going to be one that's better because just as our
(06:24):
ancestors did not quit, neither shall we.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, that's very good. Any any more messages or another
message or any additional message you'd like to share with
our listeners about now? And I guess what's on your
heart and what's on your mind.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Yeah, we have to pay attention. I think so many
things are happening that we can become apathetic to what's
going on. And it isn't because we don't care or
aren't concerned. It's just it's overwhelming. Right, every day you
turn on the news, it's something else, it's someone else,
it's something else you know, and it can exhaust you.
(06:56):
But we have to keep paying attention. And we pay
attention through the lens of people who are most oppressed. Yeah,
you don't pay attention to the lens as an educated
person or with a doctor degree, or with wealth or privilege,
but pay attention to say, how is this hurting the
most marginalized? How is this hurting people who've been pushed
to the periphery. For we don't lift the people who've
been pushed to the bottom, if we don't lift the
(07:17):
voices that are consistently being silenced, we are going to
destroy the democracy that so many people have fought and
died for us to keep. And so even when it
is hard, even when it is difficult, we have to
stay cognizant about what is going on and resist and persist.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Wow, well you're such a vision of hope. We just
so appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
You give me hope, I give you hope. It's reciprocess
there you go.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Yeah, Well, we thank you so much, and thank you
again for talking with us. I know we've had several
interviews with you today and so thank you for this
last one. It's really been a pleasure speaking with you,
and I look at you as well as Maxwell Frost,
and for some reason, you guys just inspire us. So
thank you so much for all you're doing you. Yeah, yeah,
very good. All right, justin Pearson, Tennessee, state representative there
(08:01):
who is holding the fork down. I'm Andrea Coleman with
the Black Information Network at the Congressional Black CLAWCUS Foundation's
fifty fourth Annual Legislative Conference.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Again.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
We've been talking with Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson, and
we'll have more conversations with our congressional leaders and others
coming up
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