By Shamecca Brown, Columnist, Granite State News Collaborative
I was stunned. My 15-year-old daughter, a 10th grader, came home from school and said, “Ma, the kids in my high school are not feelin’ Elon Musk.”
That’s not something you hear every day. Teenagers usually talk about music, sports or social media trends, not billionaires and foreign aid. But here in New Hampshire, even young people are paying attention to the controversy surrounding Elon’s latest move: slashing U.S. foreign aid programs, leaving millions of people, especially in Africa, without food and medical assistance.
And that wasn’t the only thing on her mind. My daughter is an ally for the LGBTQ+ community in her school, and she was livid when she found out Elon has basically disowned his transgender daughter, Vivian, who is 20. “How do you turn your back on your own kid?” she asked me. “And now he’s cutting off food to people who need it? That’s wild.”
People in New Hampshire might not think this affects them, but the truth is, it does. We live in a state where community matters, where we take care of our neighbors. If one of us were struggling, we’d show up. So why is it okay for the richest man in the world to decide that millions of people, mostly Black and brown, don’t deserve the same kind of help?
It makes me sad, and honestly, it worries me at the same time. Money, power, respect–what is this really about? Is this what we’ve come to? Cutting people off when they’re in desperate need? This isn’t business; it’s corruption, plain and simple.
Now let’s talk about the real-world consequences of Elon's decision. Because while Elon can sit comfortably in his mansions, those who rely on U.S. foreign aid can’t escape the impact of his cuts.
Closer to home, the recent DOGE cuts are affecting my work supporting domestic violence victims. My organization relies heavily on federal grants. These funding reductions directly impact our capacity to provide quality services that benefit our communities of Manchester. Without this funding, it’s becoming harder for us, and other organizations, to provide essential services like housing assistance, food security and support for families in crisis.
Millions of lives are at risk because of these actions. For countries in Africa, where hunger and disease are already rampant, USAID has been a lifeline. Programs that provide food, medicine and educational support are now being slashed. In countries like Liberia, Congo and Somalia, these cuts are more than just an inconvenience, they are a death sentence for countless people who have no other means of survival, according to reporting from The New York Times.
In New Hampshire, people might not die, but they could go hungry. It’s hard for me to even imagine a life without food. I’ve never had to wake up wondering where my next meal would come from. But I see it every day with my clients, people and families struggling to survive.
We are all working to counter the challenges that Elon Musk’s cuts are creating. It's hitting our community hard, leaving vulnerable families with fewer resources, putting more pressure on local nonprofits, and making it even tougher for people to get the help they need.
What if Elon Musk really does have that much power? What happens when someone like him can make decisions that affect millions of lives, and there’s no one to stop him? If he can pull the plug on food for entire countries, what’s next for us? How long before decisions like these start impacting us?
I refuse to live in a world where the rich get richer, and the rest of us are left to fend for ourselves.
I want to talk to my New Hampshire people, not just as someone working in this field, but as a person who sees the struggle every day. I see the families who don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I see parents trying to hold it together while worrying about rent, childcare and basic needs. I see the organizations, just like mine, stretched to the limit, trying to do more with less. And now, with these cuts, things are only getting harder.
This isn’t just a problem for a few, it’s a problem for all of us. When services disappear, when safety nets break, when funding is stripped away, it creates a ripple effect. Families suffer, children go without and communities weaken.
If we don’t step up, who will? I’m asking: what can we do together? How can we make sure our neighbors aren’t left behind? We can speak up, demand better from our leaders, and push for funding that keeps people afloat. We can support the nonprofits doing this work by donating, volunteering or simply spreading awareness.
We can show up for each other, because at the end of the day, that’s what community is about.This affects all of us. And together, we can do something about it.
Shamecca Brown, is a New Hampshire-based columnist who is family-oriented and passionate about serving underserved communities.
These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visitcollaborativenh.org.