No SNAP/EBT? Free Food via Human Rights Actions
A Human Rights Approach to Ending Poverty and Hunger
Across the United States, millions of Afrodescendants—African Americans—continue to experience food insecurity, housing instability, and systemic poverty despite decades of civil rights advocacy and government assistance programs like SNAP (food stamps) and EBT. While such programs offer limited relief, they are neither sustainable nor empowering. The time has come for Afrodescendants to exercise their human right of self-determination and take direct control over their communities, resources, and economic futures.
Under international law—specifically Articles 1 and 55 of the U.N. Charter and Common Article 1 of the International Covenants on Human Rights (ICCPR and ICESCR)—all peoples have the right to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development. This means that Afrodescendants, recognized as a distinct people under international human rights frameworks, are fully entitled to manage and benefit from the wealth and resources within their own communities.
Leveraging Community Wealth for Immediate Relief
Consider the City of Detroit: the total real estate value exceeds $600 billion. Yet, the majority of the city’s population—predominantly Afrodescendant—lives in economic deprivation. If Detroit’s collective community assets were recognized under a self-determined Afrodescendant government or cooperative authority, those assets could be leveraged immediately to create an emergency economic solution.
Such a solution could involve:
- Stimulus payments or community stipends equivalent to or greater than EBT/SNAP benefits;
- Debt relief and housing reparations, ensuring free for all residents;
- Community-backed monetary issuance, allowing residents to circulate wealth internally;
- International financing partnerships, where the community’s collective assets serve as collateral for development funds or trade-backed credit lines.
By asserting self-determination, Afrodescendants can take lawful possession of all economic and natural assets within their communities—transforming abandoned or underutilized property into living capital for food, housing, and jobs.
A Guaranteed Path to Power
Human Rights Policy Officer Ramzu Yunus explains the critical difference between traditional civil rights activism and international human rights action:
“Fighting against President Trump’s or any government’s unfair policies is an uphill battle filled with a lot of losses, as we see with current civil rights actions and lawsuits by various organizations such as the ACLU and NAACP. The most powerful and only guaranteed way to stop unfair policies and give Afrodescendants a sound footing is via human rights actions—and number one being asserting the right of self-determination. All Afrodescendants have to do is amass themselves like they are doing for demonstrations against Trump or police terrorism but to declare independence and take immediate control.”
Unlike protests or policy reform campaigns that depend on external approval, the right of self-determination is self-executing and recognized globally. Once asserted, it gives the people immediate authority over all affairs within their community—political, economic, and territorial. This includes control of real estate, institutions, and revenue streams, which can be redirected to provide free food, housing, and social support as human rights entitlements rather than charity.
From Dependence to Dignity
The struggle for equality has too often been limited to begging for fairness within an unfair system. The self-determination framework transforms this dynamic—moving from dependency to sovereignty. It provides Afrodescendants not only a moral and legal foundation but also a practical mechanism for rebuilding communities from within.
The vision is simple yet revolutionary: No SNAP? No problem. A self-determined community doesn’t wait for permission to feed itself. It organizes, claims its rights, and mobilizes its wealth to ensure that every household is nourished, housed, and empowered—by right, not request.
For more information on asserting the right of self-determination and joining the Human Rights Policy Officers’ initiatives, contact the Human Rights Law Center (888.999.6530 https://humanrightspolicy.us) or visit our ongoing campaign for Afrodescendant sovereignty and economic empowerment at https://afrodescendants.com.
