Meet Mark Faulk
Mark Faulk's family has lived in Oklahoma for six generations, and he was raised in and graduated from Classen High School in the district he now seeks to represent. His background is as varied as his interests, and includes being an accomplished social and political activist, writer, artist, teacher, and documentary filmmaker. As a successful business owner for over 40 years, he gained a wealth of experience in bidding, planning, and executing construction projects of all sizes.
As Chair of the Oklahoma County Democratic Party during the crucial 2018 election cycle, he recruited candidates for every legislative district, was active in the 2018 statewide teachers' strike, and worked with volunteers to turn the county blue for the first time in decades. In 2020, he was the Central Oklahoma Coordinator for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.
Faulk has dedicated his life to justice reform and community advocacy, helping organize dozens of protests, including actions to successfully halt fracking at Lake Hefner and save the historic Donnay Building. Most recently, he led the fight against a proposed ICE detention center in Oklahoma City. His dedication to working to improve the lives of marginalized and underserved communities earned him the Oklahoma Gazette 2016 Best Concerned Citizen Award, where they noted, “Every city needs a dedicated community activist, and Oklahoma City has Mark Faulk.”
A prominent Occupy OKC organizer, he spearheaded an effort to help mostly indigenous rural victims of the deadly tornadoes that devastated Oklahoma County in 2012, raising tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of supplies and assisting in clean up efforts. Faulk was inducted into the Oklahoma Democratic Party’s Activist Hall of Fame in 2017, received the Oklahoma Universal Human Rights Alliance’s 2018 Outstanding Human Rights Achievement award.—and served as a key plaintiff in the ACLU case that overturned Oklahoma City’s anti-panhandling ordinance.
As host of Red State Revolt, Faulk interviewed hundreds of activists and community leaders, and has been featured in multiple U.S. and European documentaries. He authored the bestselling book The Naked Truth, which led to meetings in Las Vegas and a collaboration with a federal task force comprised of agensts from the DOJ, FBI, SEC, and IRS that culminated in over a dozen criminal indictments and subsequent convictions of stock market fraudsters who stole over a billion dollars from mostly blue collar shareholders. Faulk was the writer and field director of the groundbreaking 2012 documentary The Wall Street Conspiracy, and is currently producing Voices in a Jailhouse, a seven-part series on Oklahoma’s prison system centered on Larry Yarbrough, whose release Faulk helped secure—leading to the subsequent release of 48 other inmates serving nonviolent life without parole sentences in Oklahoma.
In 2020, Faulk co-founded the People’s Council for Justice Reform, a dedicated group of experienced activists who came together during the George Floyd protests in Oklahoma City. They work directly with and advocate for marginalized communities, unhoused individuals, and people affected by mental health and addiction issues, with a focus on helping those who have been victimized, abused, or traumatized in the OK County Jail, including families who have lost loved ones in what is known as the deadliest jail in America. Faulk is a frequent outspoken voice in public meetings and media coverage related to mismanagement, overcrowding and inhumane conditions at the county jail.
When he's not busy with family or advocating for marginialized communities, Mark still loves to create through writing, film, and art. Faulk has exhibited his work in various genres across America, and believes fostering creatvitiy through accessible community art, dance, and music programs provides a valuable outlet for people of all ages.
Faulk’s first loves are his life partner Melissa and his diverse immediate and extended family, and he is as proud of their considerable accomplishments as he is his own. He was the OKC Schools and Oklahoma State PTA Cultural Arts Director when his children attended Oklahoma City Public Schools, and was a co-founder of the Paseo Festival in 1977 in the neighborhood he now calls home.
