By Kisha Brown
“Access to justice” is a term of art and action in legal and policy circles — a call for better inclusion and participation in our legal system. That system of course is not relegated to just the courts; it includes nearly every facet of life from healthcare to education to housing to business. However, without a holistic look at access to justice, the conversation often skips over the personal realities facing one of the most marginalized groups in America- Black people.
For our community, the issue isn’t simply about pro bono hours or right to counsel theories. Albeit important to the legal system, neither are guaranteed to move the needle and more often just feed the nonprofit industrial complex with more feel good efforts.
For Black people to find, trust and afford legal counsel that sees us fully and fights for our interests before crisis strikes is paramount to our success and survival. That’s why I spend so much time building Justis Connection: The Black Lawyer Directory as a comprehensive one stop resource to help us find Black lawyers for sound legal advice.
The ability to navigate smoothly through the inevitable challenges of life is critical to maximizing one’s time and resources for earning a living and leisure.
In the midst of advancements, we are living in a time when the racial wealth gap continues to widen and the lack of legal counsel plays a huge role in stalling and stunting any advancements. Think- the erosion of housing equity from racially motivated appraisal devaluations that have robbed majority Black jurisdictions, like Baltimore City and Prince George’s County, of tax dollars and Black homeowners of equity rich homes.
So when we talk about access to justice we’re not just talking about whether Tyrone has a good public defender or whether there’s a good prosecutor on the other side. Access to justice in the context of legal counsel is mostly about the first-generation business owner to the seasoned yet isolated professionals to retirees navigating estate planning who often have more at stake and less legal guidance.
A Black contractor negotiating a six-figure deal. A corporate professional navigating workplace discrimination. A grandmother seeking to pass down her home without it being tangled in probate court. Each of these scenarios represents an everyday legal matter that too often goes unaddressed because of cost, distrust, or lack of connection to the Black legal community.
And here lies the quiet emergency: the longer the delay in obtaining counsel, the more costly — financially and generationally — the consequences become. Legal neglect compounds just like financial debt and the damage done is not only suffered by the individual but by the collective Black community as well.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the AFRO.