Top Democrats stump for Pearson at Memphis rally

A large political rally Friday night showcased State Rep. Justin J. Pearson’s rising national stardom and his deep base of support in Memphis. 

The rally drew about 1,200 people to New Direction Christian Church in Hickory Hill. Progressive Democrats from across the country turned out in force for Pearson, who they hope will beat back a last-minute attempt by state Republicans to flip the 9th Congressional District red by splitting it into thirds.

Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Summer Lee took the stage to endorse Pearson.  

“It seems very clear to me that the people turning back the clock on our rights are afraid of you,” Ocasio-Cortez told the cheering crowd. “They’re afraid of this city’s legacy of fighting back, of (the) hunger for justice. They believed that if they broke apart this city, they could break apart its political power. They believed that if they changed the past, they could change the future. But they were wrong.”

The lawmakers used the rally to highlight how the local issues that Pearson has tackled as an activist and legislator, like environmental pollution, resonate across the country. 

Sarah Gladney, a Boxtown resident, spent most of the rally standing on the front row, gripping a Pearson campaign sign tightly with both hands. Earlier, she’d joined Pearson, Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley and others on a “Toxic Tour” of Southwest Memphis, including driving by the Colossus 1 facility, the Valero Oil Refinery and other industrial sites in the area. The congresswomen had a chance to talk with other Boxtown residents and hear how industrial pollutants have impacted their lives. 

Gladney, like many other Southwest Memphis residents, is no longer able to vote for Pearson after the Republican-controlled legislature redrew Tennessee’s congressional maps. But she said she knows he’ll keep fighting for the residents of Boxtown if he wins District 9. 

“He’s not gonna give up on the people, period,” Gladney said. 

PHOTOS: Democratic legislators visit Memphis for Justin J. Pearson’s campaign rally

During the rally, speakers described a divide between working-class people and billionaires, saying “it’s all hands on deck” to seek living wages, healthcare access and clean air and water.  

“This is the moment in the movement for the working people,” Lee said. “It’s the moment in the movement for the multiracial, multigenerational coalition. It is the only way forward, and we must be relentless in building it, and we must be relentless in pouring into it … Victory is only through our solidarity. Victory is only through our shared humanity and our shared liberation.”

One of the night’s most powerful moments came when Memphis organizer LJ Abraham was joined onstage by the families of three men who were killed by members of the Memphis Safe Task Force: Darrin Pigram, Jonah Neal and Tyrin Johnson. As Abraham spoke on behalf of the families, advocates unfurled sheets saying “END THE OCCUPATION.” 

“Today, we remember those victims of this occupation,” Abraham said. “We honor their lives, and we honor the families who continue to carry the unimaginable burden of seeking answers, demanding accountability and refusing to let their loved ones be forgotten.”

She spoke of the death of Tyré Nichols and how “after that tragedy, many of us dedicated ourselves to fighting for real police reform in Memphis.” 

“Memphis passed ordinances to limit pretextual traffic stops because we know those encounters too often led to unnecessary harm, particularly in Black and brown communities,” Abraham said. “Those local reforms were later overridden by the Republican supermajority in Nashville. That’s why we need leaders like Justin J. Pearson in Washington.”

Pearson is facing M. LaTroy A-Williams, State Sen. London Lamar and Jim Torino in the Democratic Primary on August 6. Early voting is already underway and will go until Aug. 1. The winner of the primary will face a Republican opponent in the general election on Nov. 3. 

Pearson had already entered the race and spent months campaigning when the district lines changed in May. While Pearson had initially campaigned against incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen, Cohen decided not to run for the redrawn district. 

As the rally concluded, Pearson urged voters to go to the ballot box “not against somebody, not against something, but go for something.” 

“You know, they forgot something when they drew those maps,” Pearson said. “They forgot that the Constitution doesn’t start with we, the politicians. It doesn’t start with we, the billionaires. It starts with the three most important words ever written in our founding documents.”

“We the people,” shouted the audience.

Katherine Burgess is the government accountability reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Contact her at katherine.burgess@mlk50.com

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