By Jeremy Manning

Founder of TNWTL Media | Entrepreneur | Voice for the Voiceless

I didn’t move to Massachusetts expecting it to be easy. I came here to build something from the ground up—to put in the work, to hustle, to stay focused on my goals. But what I didn’t expect… was this.

This hunger. This struggle. This silence.

We’re in one of the richest states in America. From Boston’s booming biotech hubs to polished suburbs filled with six-figure homes, you’d think the people here are living good. But behind closed doors, people who look like me are starving. Black households, immigrant families, single mothers, elders. Some of the hardest working people in the state are going days without eating.

That’s not just a statistic. That’s what I see every day.

📊 The Numbers Don’t Lie—But They Hurt

According to a new report by the Greater Boston Food Bank, 37% of Massachusetts households experienced food insecurity in 2024. That’s 1 in 3 families struggling to get meals. 24% had “very low food security”—meaning they either skipped meals or didn’t eat for an entire day.

Now here’s what they don’t highlight loud enough:

46% of Black households in this state are food insecure. 62% of Hispanic households. 56% of LGBTQ+ households.

This ain’t just about hunger. This is about systemic failure. This is about a system designed to pretend it’s progressive while letting marginalized communities sink in silence.

🎤 From a Black Man Building a Business—This Cuts Deep

As a Black man building a multimillion-dollar brand from the ground up, I see this from two sides. On one hand, I’m working on partnerships, marketing plans, shipping products. On the other hand, I’m watching people in my community skip meals because grocery money dried up. I’m talking to people who’ve had to choose between rent and food.

Some of y’all think Black success stories are about making it out. But I’m here saying it’s time to go back in—shine a light, speak the truth, and call out the lies of comfort in this state.

🚨 This Is Not a Poverty Problem—This Is a Policy Problem

Massachusetts lost emergency COVID food funding. Federal cuts to SNAP (food stamps) are looming. And yet somehow, the state expects people to just figure it out?

They’re asking families to do the impossible. $60 a week—that’s what most households say would fix the gap. That’s not much. But when you’re working minimum wage, raising kids, and trying to survive in this high-cost state? That $60 might as well be $600.

If SNAP cuts go through, over a million Massachusetts residents will lose vital food access. That’s not just short-sighted. That’s criminal.

🧊 Cold Reality: People Are Eating from Fridges on Street Corners

Walk through Roxbury. Dorchester. Hyde Park. You’ll find community fridges filled by volunteers, not the government. You’ll see farms like the one in Concord donating every vegetable they grow just to keep families fed. You’ll see teens running urban gardens because they know the system left them behind.

That’s beautiful. But that’s also proof that the system is broken if people need grassroots movements just to eat.

✊🏾 My Call to Action

This article isn’t just a vent. It’s a mission. If you’re reading this:

Share this truth. Don’t sugarcoat it. Support your local food banks. Look up Hyde Park Emergency Pantry or donate to Project Bread. Call your elected officials. Demand they fight SNAP cuts. If you’re a business owner, speak up. Use your platform. Your silence is complicity.

As for me, I’m going to keep building my empire—but I’m never going to do it at the cost of ignoring what’s happening around me. I’m not here to fit in. I’m here to shift culture and make noise until people feel what we’ve felt too long.

🖤 To the Ones Suffering in Silence:

You’re not alone. You matter. And we will not let the world forget you exist.

This is Massachusetts unfiltered—and it’s time we all take a long, hard look at the truth.

– Jeremy Manning

✅ Sources:

Greater Boston Food Bank & Mass General Brigham Report (2024–2025): Boston.com Project Bread: projectbread.org CBS Boston: Concord Farm Donations Boston25: Mass. Households Facing Hunger