Meta tags:
description=Juneteenth marks the day when the news of emancipation finally reached enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, more than two years after freedom had already been declared.;
author=Frederick Joseph;

Headings (most frequently used words):

something, good, left, ready, for, more, discussion, about, this, post,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (60), and (51), you (36), people (32), that (26), for (23), can (22), have (20), with (18), not (15), their (15), are (14), what (14), care (14), food (14), our (12), need (12), they (12), who (11), this (10), but (10), when (10), because (10), she (10), get (9), make (9), them (9), just (9), give (9), #something (8), from (8), work (8), out (8), packages (8), more (7), housing (7), one (7), has (7), someone (7), was (7), black (7), there (6), some (6), enough (6), about (6), unhoused (6), juneteenth (6), without (6), how (5), sure (5), those (5), been (5), money (5), don (5), through (5), want (5), good (5), 000 (5), her (5), had (5), share (4), resources (4), lack (4), city (4), use (4), left (4), never (4), know (4), special (4), many (4), come (4), living (4), could (4), were (4), small (4), trying (4), donate (4), being (4), car (4), freedom (4), your (3), frederick (3), joseph (3), all (3), everything (3), guess (3), best (3), safety (3), cannot (3), still (3), only (3), here (3), distribute (3), other (3), school (3), bank (3), years (3), needs (3), take (3), jun (3), asking (3), package (3), year (3), already (3), support (3), also (3), why (3), waited (3), away (3), robert (3), day (3), ask (3), does (3), javascript (2), run (2), please (2), great (2), substack (2), 2026 (2), subscribe (2), comments (2), reply (2), doing (2), helping (2), others (2), understand (2), appreciate (2), own (2), help (2), working (2), along (2), provide (2), reach (2), yes (2), find (2), yet (2), difficult (2), first (2), dignity (2), worth (2), feed (2), everyone (2), lives (2), social (2), self (2), says (2), every (2), two (2), sometimes (2), direct (2), shelter (2), after (2), leave (2), donations (2), often (2), summer (2), families (2), children (2), well (2), period (2), cook (2), into (2), bags (2), eat (2), cry (2), hungry (2), much (2), back (2), time (2), family (2), than (2), over (2), always (2), 167 (2), hands (2), raise (2), 100 (2), new (2), which (2), socks (2), snacks (2), water (2), cash (2), expect (2), nothing (2), even (2), thing (2), story (2), like (2), life (2), woman (2), wheelchair (2), herself (2), started (2), said (2), else (2), hard (2), looked (2), asked (2), close (2), handing (2), supplies (2), turned (2), distance (2), last (2), harlem (2), author (2), stories (2), pictures (2), packed (2), items (2), will (2), become (2), jones (2), mean (2), survive (2), site, requires, correctly, unblock, scripts, turn, home, culture, app, start, collection, notice, terms, privacy, ready, posts, discussions, latest, top, each, grateful, importance, loving, neighbors, ourselves, then, generosity, organize, using, meet, neighborhoods, anyone, whether, health, solving, problem, planning, commission, highest, priorities, poor, simply, nut, crack, haven, cracked, limited, inherent, course, manage, symptom, regulation, chaotic, humanity, bypassed, economy, skill, behind, increasing, competition, skills, ability, anymore, week, groups, pass, teenagers, booted, homes, single, making, fed, local, temporary, authority, place, short, term, probably, see, again, knowing, saw, lucky, generous, community, overloads, goods, produce, fresh, farms, times, monetary, buy, rest, example, creating, packs, kids, operating, hours, folks, golden, shop, fewer, interruptions, set, west, coast, very, strict, rule, fit, drifting, town, easy, meals, cooking, preparation, show, welcome, talk, laugh, loved, wanted, lecture, advice, beyond, yourself, any, wish, heart, treated, humans, full, value, funds, would, lacking, physical, going, shivering, cold, kicked, fitting, expectations, stephen, matlock, deeply, thankful, caring, wisdom, bring, seeing, circumstances, worked, different, nonprofit, serving, washington, montgomery, county, most, nonprofits, forever, changed, contribution, served, truly, effective, sandra, miller, restacks, discussion, post, next, previous, shareable, media, graphic, hand, https, wehavestories, org, fund, today, send, solves, homelessness, undo, cruelty, allowed, fall, its, fact, absolved, yorkers, means, made, real, progress, fundraiser, soap, material, sentiment, moment, trained, world, reminded, briefly, disappeared, human, refuse, let, end, statement, tells, plainly, performance, pity, taught, kindness, outside, richest, cities, earth, learned, protect, assuming, whatever, offered, front, must, meant, gave, smiled, went, figured, missed, knew, usually, think, anybody, sees, disappointed, startled, hadn, hey, wait, second, got, grabbed, brought, confused, seen, instead, rolled, toward, few, feet, noticed, sixties, giving, rolling, east, illustrator, nikkolas, smith, gotten, while, nearby, watching, receive, continue, serve, anonymity, respect, tables, purchased, showing, hardest, moments, evidence, compassion, pain, poster, circumstance, reduced, proof, sounds, asks, powerful, decide, too, answer, realistically, internet, works, maybe, open, actually, talked, before, dear, friend, especially, connect, face, name, immediate, makes, suffering, touch, 2025, goal, person, reading, right, now, these, include, toiletries, bottles, personal, essentials, thinking, deal, stable, raising, york, eighth, foundation, celebration, question, where, willing, look, eye, remembrance, require, marks, news, emancipation, finally, reached, enslaved, galveston, texas, declared, delayed, denied, terrible, between, country, forced, sign, retrospect,

Text of the page (random words):
something good left in retrospect with frederick joseph subscribe sign in something good left frederick joseph jun 16 2026 167 8 14 share author robert jones jr helping give out juneteenth care packages in harlem last summer juneteenth marks the day when the news of emancipation finally reached enslaved black people in galveston texas more than two years after freedom had already been declared it is a day about freedom delayed freedom denied and the terrible distance between what this country says and what black people are forced to survive that is why for me juneteenth has never been only a celebration it is also a question what does freedom mean in a city where so many black people are still living without shelter without safety without enough people willing to look them in the eye what does remembrance require of us if it does not ask us to do something with our hands our money our time and our care which is why for the eighth year my foundation we have stories is raising money to support unhoused black people in new york city this year we are trying to raise 20 000 so we can provide 100 people with care packages and direct cash support these packages include socks toiletries snacks water bottles personal care items and other essentials that many of us use without thinking but that can mean a great deal to someone trying to survive without stable housing right now we are at 7 000 of our 20 000 goal and i am asking every person reading this to donate 5 juneteenth care packages being packed in the car in 2025 i know that sounds like a small ask to some but small asks become powerful when enough people decide that they are not too small to answer realistically i also know how the internet works maybe 2 of the people who open this will actually give i have talked about that before with my dear friend robert jones jr about how hard it is to get people to give especially when people often donate when they can connect the need to a face to a name to some immediate story that makes the suffering close enough to touch the difficult thing is that i do not take pictures of the people we serve safety anonymity and respect i take pictures of the care packages the tables the supplies the bags being packed the items being purchased the people showing up to do the work but i will not ask someone living through one of the hardest moments of their life to become evidence for someone else s compassion i do not want their pain turned into a poster i do not want their circumstance reduced to proof but i do have stories last juneteenth we were in east harlem handing out care packages from my car robert was there with me along with the illustrator and author nikkolas smith they had gotten out to distribute packages while i waited nearby watching people come up receive what we had and continue on through the day a few feet away i noticed an unhoused black woman in a wheelchair she looked to be in her sixties as we were giving packages to other people she started rolling away from us at first i was confused she had seen us she was close enough to know we were handing out supplies she could have asked she could have waited but instead she turned herself away and rolled toward the distance so i got out of the car grabbed a care package and brought it over to her i said hey wait a second she looked up at me startled i asked why she hadn t waited and she said i just figured i had missed something everyone else knew about already there s usually nothing good for me left i don t think anybody even sees me so i was trying not to be disappointed i guess it s hard out here i gave her the package smiled as best i could went back to the car and started to cry because what do you do with a statement like that what do you do when someone tells you plainly without performance or self pity that life has taught them not to expect kindness what do you do when a black woman in a wheelchair living outside in one of the richest cities on earth has learned to protect herself by assuming that whatever good is being offered in front of her must not be meant for her you do the only thing you can do you refuse to let that be the end of the story that is what this fundraiser is for yes it is for socks and soap and snacks and water and cash because people need material support not just sentiment but it is also for the moment when someone who has been trained by this world to expect nothing is reminded even briefly that they have not disappeared from the human family this year we want to reach 100 unhoused black new yorkers we are already at 7 000 which means we have made real progress but we still have 13 000 to raise if you can donate 5 please do it today if you can give more give more if you cannot give send this to someone who can i am not asking because 5 solves homelessness or because one care package can undo the cruelty of a city that has allowed so many people to fall through its hands i am asking because the fact that we cannot do everything has never absolved us from doing something https wehavestories org juneteenth fund give a hand a shareable social media graphic to get others to donate 167 8 14 share previous next discussion about this post comments restacks sandra miller jun 19 i worked at 4 different nonprofit serving unhoused people over a period of 16 years in the washington dc and montgomery county md it was good work in not always the most well run nonprofits there was never enough money and always so much need i was forever changed by my small contribution to trying to make how we served those in need truly effective i am deeply thankful for all the work you do and the caring and wisdom you bring to seeing people for more than their circumstances reply share stephen matlock jun 16 i wish i could give more my heart is for people who need to be treated as humans in their full dignity and value and were i to have the funds there would be no unhoused people no people lacking care for their physical needs no school children going hungry or unhoused no one shivering in the cold because their family kicked them out for not fitting expectations i work at a food bank here on the west coast and we have a very strict rule about how we distribute our food if you come into the food bank we ll give you food if you have special needs we ll find something to fit it if you re just drifting through town we have go bags with easy to eat meals that don t need cooking or preparation if you show up we ll welcome you talk with you laugh with you cry with you and make you understand that you re loved you re wanted and if you re hungry you just need to eat no one needs a lecture or much advice beyond take care of yourself and come back any time you want to get some food we are lucky i guess because we have a generous community here that overloads us with donations often it s the goods and produce that we distribute some fresh from their farms and other times we use the monetary donations to buy what we lack for the rest of the summer for example we re creating special food packs for families with school children because when school s out many families don t have enough to feed their kids well and we have a special period in our food bank s operating hours just for our folks who are in their golden years they can come in and shop with fewer interruptions and a special set of food just for people living on their own or who don t want to cook or can t cook every week we get one or two groups of people who just pass through sometimes it s teenagers who have been booted from their homes sometimes it s single people who just are making do we make sure they re fed and we work with our local temporary housing authority to direct them to a place for short term shelter if they need it we ll probably never see them again after they leave but we make sure we get to know them make sure they get the food they can use and make sure that they leave knowing that we saw them we can t help everyone of course with everything some just can t manage their lives and lack of food is a symptom of a lack of social self regulation some can t get housing because their lives are chaotic and their humanity has been bypassed by an economy that says you re worth something only if you have a skill someone can make money from people get left behind by the increasing competition to make money and those people don t have the skills or ability to work anymore but they are first of all people and people have inherent dignity and worth we feed them because people need food and we have the food we re not solving the problem of lack of housing yes i m on the city planning commission and it s one of our highest priorities to find housing for the working poor and for those who simply cannot work and yet need housing it s a difficult nut to crack and we haven t cracked it yet still we do what we can with our limited resources and we use those resources the best we can i guess that s the best anyone can do when there are resources and when there is need we do what we can to make sure those resources reach the people who need them whether it s food or housing or health care or safety i appreciate then what you do from your own generosity and care and i appreciate how you work to organize help using people working along with you to provide food and care to the people you meet in your neighborhoods we can t all do everything but each of us can do something and i am grateful that you are doing what you can and that you are helping others understand the importance of loving our neighbors as ourselves reply share 6 more comments top latest discussions no posts ready for more subscribe 2026 frederick joseph privacy terms collection notice start your substack get the app substack is the home for great culture this site requires javascript to run correctly please turn on javascript or unblock scripts