Justin J. Pearson was born and raised in Memphis, TN. He fought for justice long before he was elected to serve as District 86 state representative in the Tennessee General Assembly in 2023. At 15, he petitioned the local school board for new textbooks for he and his Mitchell High School classmates. After graduating from Bowdoin College, he returned to Memphis during the pandemic, leading the victorious fight against two, billion-dollar oil companies that wanted to build a pipeline through southwest Memphis that would threaten groundwater and seize land owned by some residents since the abolition of slavery in 1865. During his first weeks in office as District 86 state representative, Justin protested against Tennessee Republicans’ inaction following a mass shooting at a Nashville school where three 9-year-olds and three adults died. They expelled him, but voters quickly reelected Pearson with 94 percent of the vote. Known for his oratory gifts, Pearson is a justice warrior and democracy champion who organizes, mobilizes and activates People Power. He co-founded Memphis Community Against Pollution in 2020, an environmental and climate justice nonprofit and his Movement for Justice Rooted in Love continues to move forward in the fight for environmental justice against the political incompetence that led to one data center polluting Mid-South air for a year unchecked triggering respiratory distress in residents living in surrounding communities. Pearson is married to Oceana R. Gilliam, MPP, who is a law student at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis.