Urgent Legal Aid
Donation protected
My name is Kiara and I am a black plus size model. I wanted to start by saying thank you for taking the time out to read this. To start, a few months ago I was working for a company that wrongfully accused me of stealing a large amount of money without ANY evidence or proof. Of course I presented 2 statements to the company and to the police in hopes that a proper investigation would be done. I was laid off indefinitely, ultimately fired for this and eventually I was asked to go to court. I was not able to afford representation and I was forced to represent myself in court. After presenting all of my own evidence and yet another statement, I was still ordered to pay this amount by the court.
I am currently unemployed as a lot of us are and I was never financially stable to begin with. I support myself 100% and am doing the best that I can. Unfortunately, this particular company has had issues with racism and non inclusivity in the past and so I would say that I am not surprised, but rather disappointed, hurt and disgusted. I worked for this company for 2+ years and was a loyal supervisor at 2 different locations. Never in a million years would I have thought that I could be accused of something this vile. If you truly know me, you know that I keep to myself and avoid any confrontation whatsoever. This whole situation has ultimately destroyed my mental health and any progress that I was making. It has also made me lose some trust and faith in humanity. I think for me, the hurt comes from the accusation itself and the defamation of my character. What this company doesn’t realize is that this could ruin my career. This could ruin my chances of ever finding work. I want to stand up for myself and for my own people, black people that have been put into this position with no way to defend themselves. Black people have been fired, jailed and even killed for being wrongfully accused. It is selfish, careless and morally not right.
This is something that I have been dealing with in silence for months and at this point I feel defeated. Today, I am reaching out for help. Any kind of help or support is so appreciated. I am also seeking legal and mental health assistance so if you can, please share this with others, the community, friends, family and know that you are helping me in more ways than you can imagine.
Again, thank you so much for listening and I hope everyone is safe.
Love, Kiara
I am currently unemployed as a lot of us are and I was never financially stable to begin with. I support myself 100% and am doing the best that I can. Unfortunately, this particular company has had issues with racism and non inclusivity in the past and so I would say that I am not surprised, but rather disappointed, hurt and disgusted. I worked for this company for 2+ years and was a loyal supervisor at 2 different locations. Never in a million years would I have thought that I could be accused of something this vile. If you truly know me, you know that I keep to myself and avoid any confrontation whatsoever. This whole situation has ultimately destroyed my mental health and any progress that I was making. It has also made me lose some trust and faith in humanity. I think for me, the hurt comes from the accusation itself and the defamation of my character. What this company doesn’t realize is that this could ruin my career. This could ruin my chances of ever finding work. I want to stand up for myself and for my own people, black people that have been put into this position with no way to defend themselves. Black people have been fired, jailed and even killed for being wrongfully accused. It is selfish, careless and morally not right.
This is something that I have been dealing with in silence for months and at this point I feel defeated. Today, I am reaching out for help. Any kind of help or support is so appreciated. I am also seeking legal and mental health assistance so if you can, please share this with others, the community, friends, family and know that you are helping me in more ways than you can imagine.
Again, thank you so much for listening and I hope everyone is safe.
Love, Kiara
Organizer
Kiara Smith
Organizer
San Lorenzo, CA
