Tim Johns is an English professor at …

Tim Johns is an English professor at Murray State. He recently drafted a letter — on behalf of his department — asking that the community take down a Confederate statue at the center of town. Johns feels passionately about the issue. But he worried that, as he put it, “a letter from a bunch of liberal professors wouldn’t carry much weight.” What would carry weight in Murray, Kentucky? A letter from Ja Morant. So Johns did the logical thing. “I googled him,” he said. “And I sent a letter to his agency, asking if he would want to get involved.”