Today we’d like to introduce you to B’ria Wagner & Keyia Gibbs.
Hi B’ria & Keyia, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In 2020 the world was shut down because of a global pandemic. Protest were going on due to the murder of George Floyd and everything just felt dark and heavy. That’s when Juneteenth Unity Games was born. My mom and I were looking for ways to be present for our community (geographically & culturally) in a fun, safe and effective way. Juneteenth was not widely celebrated in our area so we decided it would be the perfect time to bring a little light-hearted fun to our community. This adult field day of sorts would support black-owned businesses, spotlight local black artist and educate on the history of our rich culture. And to make things even more exciting, 2 days before our inaugural event Juneteenth became a federal holiday! This ended up being a blessing and a curse. The new federal holiday was so enticing that Juneteenth events were popping up all over the city. We could only hope to stand out in the crowd. We decided to add a culture corner that included black history facts, cultural games, puzzles, and books, as well as, a spades and dominoes tournament (iykyk.) Another addition was a wellness area, promoting personal growth. We had a therapist for the mind, a gym for the body, and a church for the soul. We don’t plan to stop there. For Juneteenth Unity Games 2023 we have partnered with Comerica Center, in Frisco, Texas to bring our event out of the heat and into the arena! We are also planning to add live entertainment, a finance coach, and someone to help us learn to grow our own spices, fruits, and vegetables. We are here for the good time, but we are also here to help build our community.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
By no means has this been easy. We are a mother-daughter duo with no prior event planning experience. Finding sponsors has proven to be a bit out of our will-house. Our first year, because of the racial climate cooperate sponsors were almost finding us. But for our second year, we were basically funding the event ourselves. We’ve done a lot of research to learn the ins and outs of fundraising and we’re well on our way to raising what we need to make 2023 our best year yet.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
B’ria: Outside of our non-profit, I am a youth basketball coach year-round and my mom is an artist for her own graphic design company full time. I’ve been an athlete my whole life, just recently closing that chapter in my life, which made it easy for us to involve the “athletic” side in our adult field day as well as networking. I LOVE a good competition and meeting and connecting with people has always come easy to me. Learning how to work with people and their many different personalities is a major key in sports. And even more so major when dealing with the youth.
Keyia: I have been creative my whole life. I started my first business at the young age of 5. I sold painted rocks out of my tent art studio where I also rented art supplies to all the kids in the neighborhood so that they could create their own masterpieces to hang on my blanket studio walls. Creating for children still brings my heart joy. That’s evident on my website, Redvelvetparties.com. Currently, you can find some of my work at Comerica Center. and Riders Field. When visiting many of the concession stands you will see menu boards and cart wraps that I designed. For JUG I created and run the website as well as create all of our flyers, signage, tee shirt designs, and more.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
In the upcoming years we see our business growing so much that we are able to solely focus on it year-round, Going indoors was already such a big shift for us, our next short-term goals are to continue adding more cultural performances as well as community building vendors and educators. Long term we plan on making the event a weekend-long and doing multiple events throughout the year. We think of a ton of new things every day so I’m sure we will have plenty growth in the years to come!
Pricing:
- Free event
- School supply donation to enter
- $10 to enter without school supplies
- Food and vendor prices vary
Contact Info:
- Website: juneteenthunitygames.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/june19_unity/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juneteenthunitygames
Image Credits
Gerard Shine
Melvin Sweats
