Tucked away in a Saskatoon office park, The Truly Alive Youth And Family Foundation Inc. (TAYFFI) is working to improve legal access for the Black community in Saskatchewan.

TAYFFI launched the province’s first Black legal clinic, Leading Change Justice Navigation for Black Adults in Saskatchewan.

“All we are being told is keep your head down, never ask questions, just go with yes sir, yes ma’am, I’m sorry, and just survive. But now we know that we also have rights,” said executive director Anthony Olusola.

The in-person and online clinics bring in legal experts and a cultural broker to focus on aspects of the justice system.

“They’ve lost their voice. Don’t fill in the blank. Make an effort to understand. Bend. To bend is to level up. We need to calm down our high horses and just be human,” says Olusola.

This has been years in the making following a report from TAYFFI and Canada’s Black Justice Strategy on racism being felt across Saskatchewan.

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The report heard from 265 people with deeply troubling allegations, finding a near-consensus of significant bias and discrimination against Black people in the criminal justice system.

“A participant cited the case of five police officers arresting and interrogating a male Black minor without his parents being present. This early but avoidable negative contact with police often triggers resistance and negative perception of police among Black youth resulting in bigger social issues,” reads the report.

Other accounts include a man waiting in jail for almost three years without trial, inmates being denied Black-sensitive hygiene products and lacking ethno-cultural resources, and non-Black teachers not penalized for using racial slurs when reported to school authorities.

“The police did not contact my family to inform us of the horrific death of our loved one even when the news outlets were reporting on it with full information of who she was,” said another participant of the report.

Olusola says he has seen a difference through the clinic’s sessions.

“People come and they are wowed: ‘Oh my goodness, I did not know all of these things.’ So we’re doing a lot of work and we’re breaking down legal information in ways that people will better understand,” said Olusola.

TAYFFI has begun working collaboratively with the Correction Service Canada to bring air cream, body lotion and other basic essentials to penitentiaries.

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