Poverty is defined as the circumstances or condition in which an individual or community does not meet the basic needs to ensure a minimum standard of well-being in life, in particular, a following a persistent lack of income. One of the constant barriers in the African American community is poverty. Although many attempts have been made to reduce the level of poverty, this is still a major problem in our community. Furthermore, one of the major contributors to poverty was the Great Society. In the research to be conducted, poverty will be measured through the federal Great Society programs introduced by President Lyndon Johnson, which are a series of social programs established to reduce or eliminate poverty in urban environments. Federal programs that will be highlighted by the Great Society will be the Department of Housing (HUD), the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). A brief description of these programs includes HUD, which deals with the development of housing in urban areas for low-income individuals, the Economic Opportunity Act was established to help improve education, while TANF is explained as financial assistance to help people pay for food, housing, utilities and other expenses. Finally, SNAP is defined as a food stamp issued by the government to low-income individuals. However, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 11.5% of African Americans reside in state housing created through HUD while 13.6% received TANF. Henceforth, researchers also recorded that more than 25% of African Americans receive SNAP to provide food for their families… half of the paper… gs Papers on Economic Activity 45, no. 2: 133-200. Meyer, Bruce D. and James X. Sullivan. 2012. Identifying the Disadvantaged: Official Poverty, Consumptive Poverty, and the New Supplementary Poverty Measure. Journal of Economic Perspectives 26, no. 3: 111-136. Orshansky, Mollie. 1965. Counting the Poor: Another Look at the Poverty Profile. Social Security Bulletin 28, no. 1:3-29.Sherwood, Mark K. (1977). “Bureau of Labor Statistics Household Budget Programs.” US Department of Health, Education and Welfare. January. Brief, Kathleen. 2012. The Supplemental Measure of Poverty Research: 2011. Current Population Reports. November. Brief, Kathleen. 2013. The Supplemental Measure of Poverty Research: 2012. Current Population Reports. November.Stephenson, Stanley (1977). The measure of poverty: relative measure of poverty. US Department of Health, Education and Welfare. March.