Representative Justin Jones, a Black-Filipino man in a white suit and brown tie, stands amid the aisles of Tennessee's House of Representatives, raising his fist to the ceiling as his colleague Justin Pearson stands behind him to the left.

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

Rep. Justin Jones addresses his ousting from Tennessee's House of Representatives and his hope for a “Third Reconstruction.”
July 2023
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By Justin Jones

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.

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Justin Jones

Justin Jones is a Tennessee state legislator representing Nashville.