Black People Tacos

If you've spent any time on social media lately, you've seen the viral joke about "White People Taco Night"—the boxed hard shells, packet seasoning, and cold shredded cheese. But when I see that yellow box, I don't think of suburban kitchens. My mind goes straight back to East San Jose in the '80s and '90s. In this episode, I take you back to my childhood driveway. Every day, my parents drove our family taco truck across Silicon Valley, feeding construction workers, farm hands, and office employees. But when they pulled back into our neighborhood after a 12-hour grind, our driveway became the last stop of the day—where the neighborhood kids gathered to eat the leftovers. I reflect on how the Black kids on my block first experienced our authentic street tacos, why fast-food like Taco Bell was an untouchable luxury for working-class families, and how Black single mothers used store-bought taco kits out of sheer economic survival. Before it was a social media meme, the hard-shell taco was a staple of working-class struggle—and it's time we reframe the narrative. What We Cover in This Episode: Life in '80s/'90s East San Jose and our family's taco truck. The "last stop of the day": Feeding the neighborhood kids from the truck's leftovers. Why Taco Bell was a luxury, and how 15-hour workdays birthed the home hard-shell taco. Deconstructing the "White People Taco" meme through the lens of class and struggle food. Black and Mexican-American solidarity on the curb of my driveway. Why struggle knows no race, and how community always finds a way to feed itself. TAQUOTE: "Life might toss you extra struggles, but in our kitchen, every shell is just a vessel for survival." Connect With 10,000 Tacos Instagram:@10ktacos Facebook:@10ktacos TikTok:@10ktacos