By Teka Lark (June 17, 2017) I foolishly thought, because he was nice, they had a video, white people liked him, he had a job, he had been stopped 52 times for no reason, he didn’t have a record, they had a video, they had a video, they had a video, white people liked him, white people liked him— I…
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By Teka Lark (April 25, 2017) “In the Lewis model of a dual economy, much of the low-wage sector has little influence over public policy. Check. The high-income sector will keep wages down in the other sector to provide cheap labor for its businesses. Check. Social control is used to keep the low-wage sector from challenging the policies favored by…
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By Teka Lark (April 3, 2017) I just got through seeing “I’m Not Your Negro” by James Baldwin. In it he said until he was 5-years old he didn’t realize he was Black and it reminded me of when I first figured out that in the United States I had a special designation. When I was a 5-year-old on my…
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By Teka Lark (November 10, 2016) The march downward did not begin with Trump. It began with the neoliberals forgetting about the people and their roots. The Democrats abandoned Asian-American, African-Americans, Latinos and the white working classes and instead focused on just the most privileged of the left. They had no message. The only message they had was vote for…
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By Teka Lark (November 8, 2016) Thousands of poor Black families were hurt owing to Bill Clinton’s welfare reform, which also criminalized poverty. 2.5 million people were deported under Obama. Totally cool with your support for Hillary. I get it, but please don’t think your vote is helping me as a Black woman. The Democratic Party does not care about…
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By Teka Lark (September 22, 2016) When I owned a newspaper in South Central Los Angeles I endorsed one candidate over another. I regret that decision, not because I didn’t believe in the candidate I endorsed. I did believe in what that candidate stood for, but I believe the game of politics is evil. When you endorse one person over…
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By Teka Lark (February 8, 2016) I took the bus for five years. Yes, I know some people take the bus all the time and it isn’t a choice, but a necessity. I acknowledge my time on public transit began as a sick, twisted, conceptual art project that ended with me having a greater understanding of not just LA,…
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By Teka Lark (September 29, 2015) It makes me very sad that in the US we have a safety net to catch you in a free fall and not a universal support system that prevents you from falling. I get angry too, but it really breaks my heart when I hear people’s stories of struggle. The older I get…
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By Teka Lark (September 21, 2015) They have zero loyalty to anyone Black,white, Latino, Asian, Native or biracial. They don’t care how smart you are. They don’t care that you went to school. They don’t care if you follow the Bible or the Torah or the Quran. They don’t care how hard you work. And if you don’t spend…
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By Teka Lark (September 9, 2015) The institution is made up of the systems that holds up the elite. The elite are the people who keep other people oppressed, so that they can continue to hold power. Many systems (people, organizations and laws) within the institution set up a sort of living narrative that makes it easier to participate in…
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By Teka Lark (August 24, 2015) “We’re reaching out to everybody,” said Bernie Sanders on NBC’s Meet the Press in response to the disruption of his August 8 downtown Seattle campaign rally by Black Lives Matters Seattle chapter co-founders Marissa Johnson and Mara Jacqueline Willaford. Black people aren’t included in “everybody” and “all.” This “we” and “us” and “everybody”…
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