Copy Paste Remix #1: SNAP Judgment — When the United States Criminalizes Hunger
This essay, “SNAP Judgment: When the United States Criminalizes Hunger,” examines how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reveals the structural violence embedded in U.S. social policy. Framed through an Ethnic Studies lens, it traces the racialized history of welfare discourse—from Reagan’s “welfare queen” myth to modern debates over work requirements—and exposes how hunger is politicized as a moral failure rather than a policy design. Drawing on recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and equity-focused research from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the essay argues that SNAP’s erosion reflects a broader ideology that privileges corporate subsidy over human survival. It also spotlights Bay Area food banks as sites of grassroots resistance, demonstrating how community-led food justice efforts sustain dignity where federal safety nets fail. Ultimately, the piece contends that hunger in America is not accidental but deliberate—a product of systemic inequity disguised as fiscal discipline, and a mirror reflecting who this nation chooses to feed and who it allows to starve.
—Telisa Nyoka King, M.A.
The Equity Report #1: How did Ethnic Studies come to be?
How did Ethnic Studies come to be? traces the historical emergence of Ethnic Studies as both an intellectual and political project rooted in the social upheavals of the late 1960s. It situates the field’s origins within the broader struggle for racial justice that followed the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, when the unfulfilled promises of legal equality gave rise to new forms of resistance and community self-determination. Drawing on key uprisings across U.S. cities—from Watts to Detroit—the essay argues that Ethnic Studies was born from the convergence of grassroots activism, educational inequity, and systemic neglect, culminating in the 1968–69 San Francisco State College Strike led by the Black Student Union and the Third World Liberation Front. That 136-day strike, the longest in U.S. history, established the nation’s first and only independent College of Ethnic Studies, setting a precedent for similar movements at universities nationwide. By linking this history to contemporary frameworks of racial equity, community-based research, and culturally responsive grantmaking, the essay illuminates Ethnic Studies as a living architecture of equity—one that bridges activism, academia, and applied practice. Its enduring legacy demonstrates that the pursuit of justice within education and public institutions is not a single event but a continuous, evolving process grounded in collective struggle and cultural knowledge.
— Telisa Nyoka King, M.A.