Julia Wallace

Co-founder of the Mobile Homecoming Project (Durham, NC)

Something really valuable that I learned is that who I am is a gift from God, from the Creator, and it is exactly who I am supposed to be in this life. Acknowledging that and affirming that is what leads me to my destiny.

Born into a family of preachers, Julia grew up in the Charlotte, North Carolina area, following her father and several cousins, all of whom are pastors, to various churches throughout the South.

From an early age, she knew that she was attracted to women, and while she doesn’t recall hearing condemning messages from her father, social pressure from family caused her to obscure her early life crushes.

Today, Wallace is an ordained Ifa Priest/ess, who still identifies as Baptist and does not believe either spiritual practice to be mutually exclusive of one another. Instead, she sees the continuity of traditional African practices in modern-day African-American Christianity. Her father has embraced and is inspired by her faith walk.