Danielle Gulley was born into a family of musical gospel legends. She has been a singer, writer, actor and producer. Danielle now serves as Director of Worship at Now Word Covenant Church in San Antonio, Texas.
Her production company has successfully produced over 50 productions, spanning from stage plays to pageants, and comedy shows to major concerts. This year, for the first time ever, Gulley’s company, Perpetual Innovations Entertainment, LLC, a pioneer in spiritually based family friendly entertainment, and The Impact Network, the largest African American inspirational networks in the world, have partnered with various business and community leaders to produce one of the largest Juneteenth celebrations in metro San Antonio history. The 2022 Juneteenth Family Festival (JFF) will be held on June 18, 2022, at the Real-Life Amphitheater in Selma, TX. The event will start off with a 5k Freedom walk run which takes place at 8am. Then, a Juneeteenth ceremony will be held where they will be honoring eight deserving individuals that have made an impact in the community and abroad. They have been selected by their peers. Bios were written and submitted about how these individuals impacted their lives and their communities.
After the ceremony, the grounds will be opened up for the carnival for the kids and adults alike (because there’s a kid in all of us). There will be a singles symposium, marriage symposium and Veteran’s symposium. Discussions will include different ways to build up our communities; as we build people we build our communities. They are free to the public. All you have to do is just get a ticket on Eventbrite to attend the symposium. There will be a concert held with Grammy winning headliners Fred Hammond and recent Superbowl performer Erica Campbell.
Juneteenth is now a national holiday and the actual day is June 19th. Juneteenth signifies when over 250,000 Texas slaves were notified that they were now free. In 1865, they found out even though it was in 1863 when the emancipation went through. Juneteenth is the celebration of freedom. Growing up in Michigan and Arkansas, Gulley never heard much about Juneteenth at all until she moved to Texas in 1998. She found out so much about Texas history.
“I find it very important to shed light on this Independence day celebration for everyone; not just African Americans. It really exhibits strength and perseverance to move forward; to stride forward for bigger and better things to come in our communities. We need to feel that hope for something to reach for today as we go out throughout our daily lives.”
Juneteenth is very specific to Texas but it is celebrated throughout the country. Gulley feels we need to talk about it as we would other holidays. Not to exclude anyone but to be inclusive. “If you celebrate freedom, this is a great opportunity to come and celebrate with everyone. We need to have more fun with it as we do on the 4th of July.”