CALL TO ACTION: Financial Support Needed

Taylor recently met with a new civil lawyer for support in an ongoing lawsuit brought on by a member of the Calgary Police Service. The meeting went very well. This lawyer is very interested in helping with Taylor’s case and is knowledgeable in lawsuits involving police. In order for Taylor to be able to receive support from this lawyer, she owes a $2,500 retainer fee to be paid by February 3rd, followed by an ongoing fee of $500/month. Additionally, she still owes $5,258 in other unpaid lawyer fees.

Y’all, she really needs the support of community and the financial support to get help from this lawyer in this lawsuit. The financial and psychological stress from the last few years has really taken a toll, which is exactly one of the main purposes of the tactic of charge stacking. Taylor has given her life to community organizing, mutual aid and speaking out against racial injustice and police violence. The amount of unpaid labour she does for community is more than most people put into their full time jobs. Please give what you can – participate in mutual aid and redistribute funds to support Taylor!

Not only has the process of charge stacking amounted in enormous legal fees for Taylor, but it also makes it more difficult for this single mother, who is self-employed, to find work when the media reports charges that have been intentionally designed to smear her reputation. Other barriers are the time it takes to fight these charges in court and the emotional and psychological toll of living with the constant threat of harassment, arrest, and sentencing on top of the anti-Black racism she already experiences on a daily basis.

"This is an intentional part of stacking charges; destroying a person’s reputation so that even if they don’t go to jail, their life is left in shambles." - Conviction, Imprisonment, and Lost Earnings: How Involvement with the Criminal Justice System Deepens Inequality

Please, redistribute what you can. Think about Taylor and think about others in your community requiring the support of mutual aid networks. While this is a post to specifically request support for Taylor, remember that this is not just about Taylor. The Stop the Stack YYC campaign is abolitionist at its core, and abolition at the core is about love and recreating networks of care that can allow us to re-learn how to show up for each other; how to rely on each other so we can divest more and more from these systems that are destroying our communities, our livelihoods and all precious life on this planet.

Taylor recently shared a post about her ongoing financial needs on her personal instagram page. She shared that she has created a Patreon page and is asking anyone who is able to sign up for monthly payments please prioritize that over a one-time donation:

https://www.patreon.com/TaylorMadeYYC

If you are only able to provide a one-time donation right now, here are ways you can do that: