Sydney Kamlager-Dove: “I thank the gentlewoman from Florida and the gentleman from Illinois for managing this very important Special Order…”

“I thank the gentlewoman from Florida and the gentleman from Illinois for managing this very important Special Order hour. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the blatantly antidemocratic and, frankly, racist expulsion of Tennessee Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. In response to the Covenant School shooting that claimed the lives of three innocent children and three staff members, Representatives Jones, Pearson, and Johnson protested on the floor of the Tennessee House. They were calling for long-overdue commonsense gun reform that would help save the lives of children and keep our communities from becoming war zones. They engaged in good trouble, similar to what Congressman John Lewis did when he sat on this very floor to demand action to end gun violence. What the ``Tennessee Three'' did was righteous, yet instead of joining the calls to keep our communities safe, extremist Republicans retaliated by expelling Representatives Jones and Pearson, two young Black male lawmakers. Actions of civil disobedience by Black men and women have been the impetus of change in our Nation, from boycotts to peaceful protests to sit-ins. I know we like to romanticize the civil rights movement, but let's be clear: It was not long ago that dogs were sicced on young people for wanting the right to vote, and their disobedience was in nonviolently persisting.…”