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The People's Plaza: Sixty-Two Days of Nonviolent Resistance
From June 12, 2020, until the passage of the state law making the occupation a felony two months later, peaceful protesters set up camp at Nashville's Legislative Plaza and renamed it for Ida B. Wells.
Central to the occupation was Justin Jones, a student of Fisk University and Vanderbilt Divinity School whose place at the forefront of the protests brought him and the occupation to the attention of the Tennessee state troopers, state and US senators, and Governor Bill Lee. The result was two months of solidarity in the face of rampant abuse, community in the face of state-sponsored terror, and standoff after standoff at the doorsteps of the people's house with those who claimed to represent them. In this, his first book, Jones describes those two revolutionary months of nonviolent resistance against a police state that sought to dehumanize its citizens.
The People's Plaza is a rumination on the abuse of power, and a vision of a more just, equitable, anti-racist Nashville--a vision that kept Jones and those with him posted on the plaza through intense heat, unprovoked arrests, vandalism, theft, and violent suppression. It is a first-person account of hope, a statement of intent, and a blueprint for nonviolent resistance in the American South and elsewhere.
Central to the occupation was Justin Jones, a student of Fisk University and Vanderbilt Divinity School whose place at the forefront of the protests brought him and the occupation to the attention of the Tennessee state troopers, state and US senators, and Governor Bill Lee. The result was two months of solidarity in the face of rampant abuse, community in the face of state-sponsored terror, and standoff after standoff at the doorsteps of the people's house with those who claimed to represent them. In this, his first book, Jones describes those two revolutionary months of nonviolent resistance against a police state that sought to dehumanize its citizens.
The People's Plaza is a rumination on the abuse of power, and a vision of a more just, equitable, anti-racist Nashville--a vision that kept Jones and those with him posted on the plaza through intense heat, unprovoked arrests, vandalism, theft, and violent suppression. It is a first-person account of hope, a statement of intent, and a blueprint for nonviolent resistance in the American South and elsewhere.
194 pages, Paperback
Published August 15, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 14, 2024
Justin Jones and the good trouble he and fellow Tennesseans raised in the summer of 2020 gives me hope for our country. This firsthand account of their protest in The People’s Plaza is stirring, maddening, and encouraging all at once. 62 days of peaceful protest in the face of Gov. Lee and his goons is a testament to people power. Rooting for you still, Justin!!
March 27, 2025
Jones is such a striking writer, every Tennessean should read
April 30, 2023
This book sent my spirit soaring with hope and moved me to tears at times. Justin Jones wrote an articulate account about his experiences in the People’s Plaza, and he did so with grace, determination, and integrity. It is important work, documenting injustice and showing the hope that ordinary people, together, can invoke change.
Mr. Jones quoted the great Ida B. Wells saying, “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them”.
The occupation of the plaza by Capitol Hill in Nashville was all about shining a light on what’s wrong in government and policing and presenting a vision of how it could be better.
I think this book should be read widely and absorbed, especially by young people. It is inspiring to read about history being made right now with many of these young folks involved themselves in speaking out, protesting, and living the change they want.
My teenage son has been following Justin Jones for years, and he looks up to him as an example of living a life of authenticity and getting into good trouble when needed.
Personally, reading this account touched my own memories of being involved on the periphery of this resistance and the Black Lives Matter protests of that summer. I was there when Tennessee state troopers formed a human wall blocking the people from the Capitol. With my family, I chanted and protested. We were infuriated by the huge number of officers, unresponsive and sometimes smirking, standing like statues. We dropped off water for the brave occupiers and followed their journey on the news and social media.
I learned so much from Mr. Jones’s book about what really happened behind the scenes with elected officials. It’s scary how corrupt and hungry for power the Republican supermajority has become in Tennessee.
I look forward to what the future holds for young Justin Jones. He has taken the civil rights baton and started running, steadily and steadfastly. May he continue to work and inspire for years to come. With the people behind him, he will accomplish great change.
Mr. Jones quoted the great Ida B. Wells saying, “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them”.
The occupation of the plaza by Capitol Hill in Nashville was all about shining a light on what’s wrong in government and policing and presenting a vision of how it could be better.
I think this book should be read widely and absorbed, especially by young people. It is inspiring to read about history being made right now with many of these young folks involved themselves in speaking out, protesting, and living the change they want.
My teenage son has been following Justin Jones for years, and he looks up to him as an example of living a life of authenticity and getting into good trouble when needed.
Personally, reading this account touched my own memories of being involved on the periphery of this resistance and the Black Lives Matter protests of that summer. I was there when Tennessee state troopers formed a human wall blocking the people from the Capitol. With my family, I chanted and protested. We were infuriated by the huge number of officers, unresponsive and sometimes smirking, standing like statues. We dropped off water for the brave occupiers and followed their journey on the news and social media.
I learned so much from Mr. Jones’s book about what really happened behind the scenes with elected officials. It’s scary how corrupt and hungry for power the Republican supermajority has become in Tennessee.
I look forward to what the future holds for young Justin Jones. He has taken the civil rights baton and started running, steadily and steadfastly. May he continue to work and inspire for years to come. With the people behind him, he will accomplish great change.
September 2, 2022
Such a powerful book!
May 11, 2023
Jones’ testimony is powerful and it sheds light on some of the problems that the TN government is continuing to have. It is worthwhile to hear about the protests and occurrences at the TN Capitol from his perspective.
May 18, 2023
I feel a lot better about living in the state of Tennessee knowing that Justin Jones is here.
December 15, 2023
I read this over the course of a couple of months throughout the fall semester as a way to help encourage me in my work as a teacher, especially after last spring when I protested with my students downtown after the school shooting in Nashville.
This book reads like a history and a journal. Jones writes of 2020 and the People's Plaza resistance in Nashville. So much of it was horrifying. I cannot imagine as a black person what it would be like to be in so many oppressive situations that Jones was put in and to experience what he did at the hands of law enforcement. However, it was also inspiring to see the interweaving of faith, community, and strength. There is so much to fight for!
This book reads like a history and a journal. Jones writes of 2020 and the People's Plaza resistance in Nashville. So much of it was horrifying. I cannot imagine as a black person what it would be like to be in so many oppressive situations that Jones was put in and to experience what he did at the hands of law enforcement. However, it was also inspiring to see the interweaving of faith, community, and strength. There is so much to fight for!
June 4, 2023
While it's nice for Justin to record his perspective, the writing was unfortunately quite lacking. To summarize, it's basically like "there are good people from democratic party and there are bad people from Republican party. Bad guys try to arrest, I sing and prey. I am good."
August 26, 2023
A detailed account of two months of protests in the Center of Nashville in 2020. I knew nothing of it and although I had known nothing of it and was seriously disturbed by the situation I wanted more from the book.
April 19, 2022
Full disclosure: I am professionally employed Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The Medical Center, though a separate fiscal and legal entity, shares the Vanderbilt name with Vanderbilt University, whose press publishes this book.
Nashville, Tennessee, is a historic town in the movement for civil rights. In fact, locals just call it the “movement.” That movement is very much alive, in Nashville and in America, as the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 have recently shown. This book details how these sparks fared in Nashville on statehouse grounds. The lineage of Nashvillians Dr. James Lawson, Dr. Martin Luther King, and John Lewis stand strongly behind the described events. This account reminds us that these giants were once unfairly painted as radicals.
Although the 2020 group stayed relatively nonviolent, their protests were met with state police and national guard backlash. The state spent around $1 million trying to keep dozens of protesters “in check” and $200,000 in a special session to make the protests illegal. (So much for fiscal conservatism!) Jones details the care the protesters took to remain nonviolent and how they were joined by clergy troubled by the rise of state-sanctioned violence against black people. (Jones himself studied at a divinity school.)
Tennessee, especially in its abundant rural regions, has moved rightward politically in the last couple of decades. Its Republican state government can seem oppressive to major sections of the population as Jones demonstrates. Although Jones fills out the description of the strategy and the protests well, the rationales for the policy aims of the protests seems scant (in this book, at least). I wish Jones would have incorporated a chapter or two on potentially positive impacts of the group’s aims. Voicing these aims can/must help win over a white middle that resists extremism on either side. In terms of accomplishments, the protests did topple – physically and legislatively – two statues of Confederate-era “heroes” from statehouse grounds.
The title of this book comes from the name of the plaza that this group occupied. Playing off the nickname of a state house as the “people’s house,” they nicknamed the place they occupied as the “people’s plaza.” They showed and this narrative documents that state power, even in America, resembled state-sanctioned terror and unnecessary and unreasoned harassment. While many might be content to stop with television images of protest from 2020, reading this book uncovers many deeper issues that need addressing in the abuse of authority. It frankly makes some of the powerful players – especially Tennessee’s governor and legislature – look incredibly petty, silly, and frivolous. If American democracy is to survive and even flourish, we must heed Jones’ admonitions to do better to all in society.
Nashville, Tennessee, is a historic town in the movement for civil rights. In fact, locals just call it the “movement.” That movement is very much alive, in Nashville and in America, as the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 have recently shown. This book details how these sparks fared in Nashville on statehouse grounds. The lineage of Nashvillians Dr. James Lawson, Dr. Martin Luther King, and John Lewis stand strongly behind the described events. This account reminds us that these giants were once unfairly painted as radicals.
Although the 2020 group stayed relatively nonviolent, their protests were met with state police and national guard backlash. The state spent around $1 million trying to keep dozens of protesters “in check” and $200,000 in a special session to make the protests illegal. (So much for fiscal conservatism!) Jones details the care the protesters took to remain nonviolent and how they were joined by clergy troubled by the rise of state-sanctioned violence against black people. (Jones himself studied at a divinity school.)
Tennessee, especially in its abundant rural regions, has moved rightward politically in the last couple of decades. Its Republican state government can seem oppressive to major sections of the population as Jones demonstrates. Although Jones fills out the description of the strategy and the protests well, the rationales for the policy aims of the protests seems scant (in this book, at least). I wish Jones would have incorporated a chapter or two on potentially positive impacts of the group’s aims. Voicing these aims can/must help win over a white middle that resists extremism on either side. In terms of accomplishments, the protests did topple – physically and legislatively – two statues of Confederate-era “heroes” from statehouse grounds.
The title of this book comes from the name of the plaza that this group occupied. Playing off the nickname of a state house as the “people’s house,” they nicknamed the place they occupied as the “people’s plaza.” They showed and this narrative documents that state power, even in America, resembled state-sanctioned terror and unnecessary and unreasoned harassment. While many might be content to stop with television images of protest from 2020, reading this book uncovers many deeper issues that need addressing in the abuse of authority. It frankly makes some of the powerful players – especially Tennessee’s governor and legislature – look incredibly petty, silly, and frivolous. If American democracy is to survive and even flourish, we must heed Jones’ admonitions to do better to all in society.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews