Turmoil in Tennessee Makes Case for Multiracial Democracy

Apr 12, 2023

Justin Jones, one of two Black lawmakers in Tennessee ousted by the Republican majority, was on Monday to his position in the state House of Representatives by a unanimous vote of the Nashville Metropolitan Council. Jones and fellow Democrat Justin Pearson were both after they led protests against gun violence in the wake of a mass school shooting in Nashville. Another Democrat, a white representative named Gloria Johnson, survived expulsion by one vote. The three lawmakers, known as the 鈥淭ennessee Three,鈥� have faced accusations by Republicans of bringing 鈥�.鈥� They have countered that Republicans are distracting from their inaction over ongoing gun violence.

Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of , and DaMareo Cooper, co-executive director of , spoke with 猫咪社区! Racial Justice Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on Rising Up With Sonali about why the situation in Tennessee makes the case for building a multiracial democracy.

The views expressed here and on Rising Up With Sonali do not necessarily reflect the opinion of 猫咪社区! Media.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 猫咪社区! in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽猫咪社区! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.