Nominated by: David Hogg, Leaders We Deserve Co-Founder, March For Our Lives Co-Founder, and former Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee
Age: 31
Location: Memphis
Elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2023, Justin J. Pearson was briefly removed from his seat after partaking in a protest against gun violence that disrupted a House debate, only to be re-elected by year’s end. He’s been a staunch supporter of stricter gun control laws, limiting ICE’s power, and promoting a greener economy. He is currently challenging Representative Steve Cohen for his seat in Congress.
“Impossible odds, a Republican supermajority, corporate polluters, and folks lining up around the block to say something’s impossible? By God, that’s Tennessee State Representative Justin J. Pearson’s music. An organizer at heart and in constant practice, Justin stopped a billion dollar oil pipeline from running through Memphis. He’s gone toe-to-toe with Elon Musk and his xAI plant poisoning the air of his community. Many of you know him from his courageous protest for gun safety legislation in the Tennessee statehouse after a tragic school shooting. Justin was kicked out of office, fought his way back to a resounding re-election, and still got the Republican Governor to sign an executive order strengthening background checks. At just 31 years old, Justin J. Pearson is the living embodiment of David versus Goliath, a proud son of Memphis, and proof that the people united can never be divided. His current run for Congress could help usher in a new generation of principled fighters to the Democratic Party.” —David Hogg
David Hogg: When someone tells you change can’t be made or there’s “nothing we can do” what is your initial response?
Justin J. Pearson: There is always something that we can do. There is nothing we can’t achieve with people power. Showing up and speaking up is powerful and has sparked change throughout our country’s history. By organizing, mobilizing, and activating your family, neighbors, friends, church members, and people new to the Movement for Justice Rooted in Love, we build a winning coalition. The idea that we cannot make positive change only benefits the people who want to perpetuate a status quo that we know is damaging to folks who were already marginalized and demoralized by people in power. We can never relinquish the idea that we can make change. To do so would only benefit the wealthiest and those with positional power. We must remain resilient in our thinking and belief that life can be better. That’s why we must put our hands to that effort and realizing that ideal future for our communities and nation.
Hogg: How does your faith guide your organizing?
Pearson: As a Christian, Jesus is my example for how to live and how to serve. Jesus Christ fought and died pursuing justice and righteousness for those who were made least—not the most rich or most powerful. Jesus was intentional beginning with the marginalized to build community across differences. From the sex workers and adulterers to the tax collectors and Pharisees, Jesus never wavered in his principles, which above all was to be of service. God does not do the act of salvation alone. God becomes a human being born to a teenage mother. His start is not ideal. His position in society is low, and yet that is where hope arises. That’s good news for us.
My faith teaches me to stay focused on people’s needs—feed the hungry, comfort the grieving, heal the sick. My policies and practices must align with that calling. My faith is also not passive. We must be co-creators or co-organizers with God. We must use our God hands, God feet and God-given voices to speak truth to power and refuse to be silent when we’re in power.
Hogg: Talk to us about Elon Musk and the other billionaires you’ve gone toe-to-toe with?
Pearson: The Elon Musks of the world use their wealth, influence, and power to take what they want, but they are not invincible. We can rise up and work together. We can fight their money and their influence. Billionaires like Elon Musk are used to people bowing to their every whim and doing whatever they command. Elon and his company xAI illegally polluted the community that I represent for over a year, running dozens of dirty gas turbines as its first facility without a permit. Now they have taken their “move fast and break the law” operation just a few miles away to Southaven, Mississippi, where they operate another 27 methane gas turbines without a permit. This only compounds the pollution in South Memphis where residents have a higher cancer risk and incidence of asthma and complications.
Our community has the highest number of hospital visits due to severe respiratory distress of anywhere in the state of Tennessee and residents have repeatedly reported elevated health distress since xAI’s arrival in 2024. We didn’t just start fighting major polluters. Six years ago, I helped lead the fight against two multibillion-dollar companies, Plains All American and Valero Energy Corporation, who sought to build a crude oil pipeline through our community while stealing people’s land through the misuse of eminent domain. It is not new to me to have to stand up against valueless entities and elected individuals in government who seek to destroy and devalue our communities.
Our communities are resilient and powerful. My people only want to live but we have companies who only want to profit off of our lives. As an elected official, community organizer, and activist, I have a responsibility to protect the lives of the people I serve. The amount of money that a person or company has does not scare me. A lot of elected officials get really quiet and refuse to name companies or the CEOs who are creating horrible conditions for our constituencies because they’re afraid of their money. That is how we get a status quo that is killing us. I will not sit idly by as my constituents and I are killed by these billionaires and their corporations polluting our air and making it more difficult for us to live. Communities in Memphis and Mississippi are rising up and building a “solidarity dividend” to develop short- and long-range plans to defeat xAI and other harmful projects.
Hogg: What was it like getting kicked out of office? What did it teach you about power?
Pearson: Being expelled was a devastating experience. We worked so hard to get elected and so many people sacrificed for us to win our first election from a pool of 10 candidates, but to see their votes undone by a Republican supermajority was very frustrating, angering, and devastating. My mom is right, in that what the devil means for bad God will turn into good. From a horrible tragedy, we had more real conversations about the gun violence epidemic that is plaguing Tennessee and Memphis in particular, than ever before. I was reaffirmed in my belief which I’ve held for a very long time that we must always give power to the people.
The power resides within the people. I believe that too often, politicians believe that the power resides with them because they hold the positions and the titles, but it always always, always belongs with the people. The people restored me to my duly-elected office, and they exposed the authoritarianism that has been brewing in majority Republican statehouses across our nation for decades.
Hogg: What is your advice to younger Americans who feel like their government is serving special interests, not them?
Pearson: First, they are not wrong to feel this way. Too many government officials in critical leadership roles are out of touch with the needs of young people. President Barack Obama recently said it best during an interview with Brian Cohen: “There is an element of, at some point, you age out, you’re not connected directly to the immediate struggles that folks are going through.” We need a new vision, new energy, and a new approach to leadership. Leadership has to be proximate to move the needle on our most pressing challenges like poverty, affordability, gun violence, and pollution. The people who have been in power for decades have had their chance to solve the issues and instead they have just handed them to us. We have to require the actions of elected officials to be different and demand that the money and politics of corporate power and special interests be reduced and that the people’s interests be uplifted.
Everyone must engage with your community. Start showing up to council, commission, aldermen, school board, and even PTA meetings. It is in these rooms of power where policymaking impacts our day-to-day lives more than anywhere else. I hope someone reading this considers running for office. If you don’t run, join a campaign and get them to victory. We are the leaders of today and tomorrow. We are the change we seek so we need to act like it.
This feature is part of CULTURED’s 2026 Young Activists list, spotlighting those around the country working to champion the causes closest to them. Each is nominated and interviewed by a leader in their field. You can read their features here.
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