The return of Justin Jones and the white suit
The Tennessee legislator has become a viral symbol.
Once again the costume white stands powerfully symbolic head. There are few garments in the political wardrobe that have been worn so deliberately and have become so imbued with meaning. This time he came to the fore thanks to the saga of state Rep. Justin Jones of Tennessee, a Democrat and, at 27, one of the youngest black lawmakers in the state government.
>Mr. Jones and fellow Rep. Justin J. Pearson came to national attention on April 6 when they were expelled from the legislature following a gun control protest. Mr Jones was reinstated on Monday by the Nashville Metropolitan Council, his district's governing body, but by then his image had already gone international: a totem of what it meant to resist, as he has called in a fiery House speech. floor on the day of his expulsion, the "false power flex".
You see, on the day of his expulsion, Mr. Jones wore what The Tennessean called his " designer white suit” with a white shirt and tan tie, hair pulled back in a ponytail. The image of him walking out of the wooded bedroom with a raised fist, shining from every angle, created an indelible image.
"The world is watching," he says , and it was. Since then, photographs of him in costume have not only popped up again and again online and in news stories (even in articles about his comeback, rather than the sage green he wore at the time), but have also been used as a bugle call. in political action committee emails.
As the Houston Chronicle's Alison Cook tweeted, it was simply a "masterstroke by presentation". Made by a member of a new generation who understands how useful an image can be for getting a message across in the age of social media.
When it is to protest, after all, the white suit contains multitudes. It's become a different kind of dress code.
The Tennessee legislator has become a viral symbol.
Once again the costume white stands powerfully symbolic head. There are few garments in the political wardrobe that have been worn so deliberately and have become so imbued with meaning. This time he came to the fore thanks to the saga of state Rep. Justin Jones of Tennessee, a Democrat and, at 27, one of the youngest black lawmakers in the state government.
>Mr. Jones and fellow Rep. Justin J. Pearson came to national attention on April 6 when they were expelled from the legislature following a gun control protest. Mr Jones was reinstated on Monday by the Nashville Metropolitan Council, his district's governing body, but by then his image had already gone international: a totem of what it meant to resist, as he has called in a fiery House speech. floor on the day of his expulsion, the "false power flex".
You see, on the day of his expulsion, Mr. Jones wore what The Tennessean called his " designer white suit” with a white shirt and tan tie, hair pulled back in a ponytail. The image of him walking out of the wooded bedroom with a raised fist, shining from every angle, created an indelible image.
"The world is watching," he says , and it was. Since then, photographs of him in costume have not only popped up again and again online and in news stories (even in articles about his comeback, rather than the sage green he wore at the time), but have also been used as a bugle call. in political action committee emails.
As the Houston Chronicle's Alison Cook tweeted, it was simply a "masterstroke by presentation". Made by a member of a new generation who understands how useful an image can be for getting a message across in the age of social media.
When it is to protest, after all, the white suit contains multitudes. It's become a different kind of dress code.
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