Maxwell Frost: “I am here today because I, like the rest of our Nation, am outraged about what we have seen happen in Tennessee. Six…”

“I am here today because I, like the rest of our Nation, am outraged about what we have seen happen in Tennessee. Six innocent people died as a result of senseless gun violence in Nashville, a school shooting where we lost children that will never be forgotten. Instead of banning together to honor these victims, to honor those families, to honor with action, real action that would save lives, Republicans in the Tennessee Legislature took the racist step of expelling two Black lawmakers who stood with the families, students, teachers, and their constituents in demanding change. The only thing that Representatives Jones and Pearson are guilty of is doing the right thing, of standing with their constituents who sent them to the State legislature to fight for their lives. That is why they have already been unanimously reappointed to their positions by the people in their local governments. I pray and act and fight for a day when we are more outraged that children were murdered in a pool of their own blood at school than we are that Black folks have the audacity to take up space in the halls of power. Guess what? Representatives Jones and Pearson will continue to take up that space. Black lawmakers such as myself and my colleagues in this room will continue to take up that space. The people--children--for whom the leading cause of death in this country is guns will continue to take up that space. As long as there is injustice, we will not be silent.…”