Following a unanimous vote by our Board of Directors, we are honored to officially endorse Justin Pearson for the United States House of Representatives in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District.
Justin’s track record in the 9th District is guided by an abiding love for frontline communities. As co-founder of Memphis Community Against Pollution, he helped lead the historic, people-powered victory against the Byhalia Pipeline. That triumph was never just an environmental milestone; it was a sacred defense of Black life, breath, and dignity. It was our mothers, fathers, and elders declaring that South Memphis will never be a sacrifice zone for corporate greed. Justin’s ability to gather our people and confront multi-billion-dollar polluters reveals the courageous, principled leadership our families need speaking truth in Washington.
Beyond his defense of our land and water, Justin carries a profound, ancestral reverence for the ballot. In Tennessee and across the South, our right to vote has never been a casual civic routine or an abstract legal construct: it is a sacred inheritance, bought and paid for with the blood, prayers, sweat, and unrelenting resilience of those who came before us. When corrupt systems gerrymander our communities and work tirelessly to dilute the collective power of Black voters, they are attempting to dishonor that sacrifice and silence our generational voice.
Justin refuses to remain quiet in the face of such efforts. We have watched him stand in the well of the state legislature, unbowed and unafraid, acting as a righteous witness for every elder who endured humiliation for the ballot and every young person fighting to be heard. He knows that we cannot protect the water running from our taps or the air entering our lungs if the power to govern our own lives is stolen from us.
For the 9th District, Justin Pearson is not just a candidate on a ballot. He is a son of Memphis, a protector of The People’s dignity, and a leader who carries our prayers into the halls of power to ensure our votes, our health, and our sacred futures are honored and defended.
— Dr. Ife Kilimanjaro, U.S. Mobilizing for Urgent Sustainable Transformation
