It’s hard to process what happened in Tennessee today. What we witnessed was that two of the most powerful orators in the legislature, who happen to be young, gifted, Black men who won their districts by 100% and 98% of the vote, were publicly expelled with the world watching. (And the White woman kept her job by only one vote.)
I believe that the members who voted the Justins out (Justin Jones and Justin Pearson) were less offended by the silly decorum rules with shifting goal posts than they were intimidated by the power of their oratory and ability to speak truth to power with unflinching clarity and grace under pressure —without once bowing to God of white supremacy.
If you missed the live hearings or don’t know what the fuss is about decorum, it’s worth watching the debate to see how these young men composed themselves and remained committed to their constituency after each vile attack, if only to bear witness how this generation (GenZ)is leading.
Thank you to my friends who were at the Capitol today in protest. There was greatness in that room, and the legislators who voted the Justins out are intimidated as hell by it. They are grasping for how they can possibly cling to power, and the only way forward they can see is to use their tiny imaginations to try to deny us the light of democracy.
Élan Young 