For decades, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam and His National Representative, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, have warned Black people that the U.S. government would not have enough resources to provide jobs or other resources for its millions of White citizens, let alone Black people.
During his 2013 lecture series, “The Time and What Must Be Done,” part 30, Minister Farrakhan says of his teacher, “In the ‘The Muslim Program” under “What The Muslims Believe, Point No. 9,’ the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, over 50 years ago, said these words: ‘We do not believe that America will ever be able to furnish enough jobs for her own millions of unemployed in addition to jobs for [now over 40 million] Black people.’”
These warnings are increasingly becoming reality for millions of people around the country.
Food insecurity was increasing in the United States even before SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits cuts, and more changes, such as new work requirements, are making matters more challenging. People without access to enough nutritious food or a job with a livable wage are a nationwide problem, particularly poor and vulnerable communities.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics indicate that 13.5% of households were food insecure in 2023. Public health advocates argue that federal cuts to food programs, stagnant wages, job losses, and rising food prices contribute to economic instability in millions of households. In the aftermath of the U.S. government shutdown, which lasted 43 days until Nov. 12, SNAP benefits resumed. But problems remain.
New rules for SNAP benefits under the Trump Administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1) have tightened work requirements and reduced eligibility for some people who need the additional assistance.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), roughly 2.4 million people could see reduced or lost benefits over the next decade. That includes 800,000 adults aged 55-64 who do not live with children; 300,000 parents, grandparents, and other caregivers living with children aged 14 and older; roughly one million people living in areas with scarce jobs; and more than 300,000 veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth. Expanding the work requirement will cut SNAP by about $69 billion through 2034, the CBO estimates.
Full benefits were restored after states took legal action in late October and early November. But, starting in December, SNAP issued two sets of work requirements: general and able-bodied.
Meanwhile, the new able-bodied adults without dependents requirement applies to age 18-54, who can work at least 80 hours a month, participate in a work program for at least 80 hours a month, participate in a combination of work and work program hours totaling that many hours, or participate in workfare for the number of hours assigned each month, which depends on the SNAP benefit amounts.
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught the importance of Black people uniting and doing for themselves.
Because even with the updated work requirements for SNAP benefits, America’s job market is unsteady, so what types of jobs will be available where people can make the money required to take care of themselves or their families?
According to a December 16 article on cnbc.com, “The unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, more than expected, and its highest level since September 2021. A more encompassing rate swelled to 8.7%.”
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, like his teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, cautioned that the country does not have sufficient jobs for Black people.
“Now, if you’re a student of history, consider if millions of White folk don’t have jobs, and they create jobs, who do you think is going to get the jobs first? I’m sure it’s going to be you, right? Come on, brothers and sisters! White folk are going to look out for themselves first! And if there’s anything left, maybe you might find something,” Minister Farrakhan said in a message he delivered November 9, 2011, at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, titled, “We Must Become Producers For Our People.”
Mtumishi Guynn is president emeritus of the Association of Black Social Workers Greater Los Angeles. Lifelong social workers, like Mr. Guynn, say the SNAP changes have a ripple effect, but he pointed out that they also teach the importance of self-reliance and resilience. He hearkened back to the days of Black people relying on their communities.
“We had our own,” he explained, referencing Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.
“That’s what it’s about, having our own building for each other and working towards unity amongst ourselves,” said Mr. Guynn. It is not racist, but looking out for self-interest, as other groups do, he said.
“When you depend on someone else or another entity, you’re at their whim, so if they want to switch up or switch gears, you’ve got to roll with it,” he stated.
Olufemi Shepsu, a member of the National Association of Black Social Workers in Richmond, Virginia, feels that the current SNAP policies amount to an attack on already-suffering poor people striving to feed their families and survive across the country.
“It’s also looking at the broader context of the more overt system of White supremacy and domination and looking at the micro, macro … attacks that people of color and poor people face in the United States on a daily basis,” Mr. Shepsu told The Final Call.
“Our ancestors have survived the lynchings, being tarred and feathered, and our response to the all-out assault was nation-building. We are nation builders! And we can look at the Black homestead movements that were taking place right after enslavement, and our people were building, building our own homes, doing our own communities, our own churches, our own organizations, and we need to take some lessons from that,” he said.
Minister Farrakhan explained the solution and what Black people must work toward, based on the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. “The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, ‘As long as we are consumers and employees, our future is in the hand of somebody else.’ But if we are going to be producers, you cannot become a producer of what you need to extend your life without land,” Minister Farrakhan explained in his 2011 message in Prairie View, Texas.
“Land is the basis of all wars! They don’t fight ‘just to fight’—they fight for access to land and the raw materials that are under or in that land! And the more access they have to land where there’s oil, gold and uranium, where there are raw materials and they know how to bring those raw materials out of the Earth and make a product; and put that product on the market to bring back revenue, that’s how nations grow!” Minister Farrakhan said.
Final Call staff contributed to this report.