Justin J. Pearson is a Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing District 86 . Born in 1994 in Memphis, Tennessee, to parents Dr. Kimberly Owens-Pearson and Rev. Jason C. Pearson, Sr., he was raised in Memphis and briefly Washington, D.C. Pearson is known for his activism, including leading efforts as a teenager to secure new textbooks for his high school and co-founding Memphis Community Against Pollution in 2020, which successfully blocked a billion-dollar oil pipeline threatening groundwater and land in southwest Memphis. In 2023, shortly after taking office, he protested Republican inaction on gun legislation following the Covenant School mass shooting in Nashville, leading to his expulsion from the House alongside Reps. Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson; voters reelected him with 94% of the vote in a special election.

Education and Political Experience

• Education: Graduated from Bowdoin College; valedictorian of Mitchell High School.
• Political Experience: Elected to represent District 86 in January 2023 at age 28, becoming one of the youngest lawmakers in the Tennessee House. Expelled in April 2023 for the gun protest but reinstated by local authorities and reelected in August 2023. Continues advocating for environmental justice, including against unchecked pollution from a data center, and has announced a run for U.S. Congress.