Queen’s Chronicle: Living to Heal Gullah/Geechee Land

Gullah/Geechee Nation ♦ April 30, 2024 ♦ Leave a comment

by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation (www.QueenQuet.com)

“Do LAWD! Please don le mi libin be een vain!” I have cried out and stated many times in my life which can often seem like the “tedious journey” that I have sung about hundreds to thousands of times. I give thanks in those moments when GOD sends that one person to tell me how something I said or did changed their lives or was just what they needed at a critical moment. That’s when I know that GOD is confirming that my life’s work is of value to somebody. That makes my soul sing “Feel Like Journey On!” Hallelujah!

That journey can often have twists and turns. Although I live in what is deemed as “The Lowcountry” which is flat land with numerous tributaries throughout and water all around the Sea Islands, I feel like I have been up and down like a rollercoaster all year. Thankfully, this ride has been exhilarating for the most part. The drops in the ride are when I see or hear of more destructionment coming to Mother Earth. I can feel her crying out. I then pause and cry with her. The good thing is that GOD has often taken those tears and used them to water seeds of blessings and healing especially in and for the Gullah/Geechee Nation.

One of the great blessings of the year was being able to once again traverse the earth on my annual “Gullah/Geechee Land & Legacy World Tour.” I started out approximately three decades ago doing the “Save the Sea Islands Tour” which has evolved to the journeys that GOD blesses me to take to various lands now. This year, the lands included were Spain once again, Italy and Greece as well as numerous areas in the Gullah/Geechee Nation and the United States.

When I landed in Greece, I had to adjust my vocabulary from Spanish and Italian to Greek. I wanted to be able to immediately get into the flow of this place that I had only read about in class and seen depicted in movies. I wanted to stand on their shoreline and see if I felt the power and energy that I feel when I stand on the Gullah/Geechee Nation‘s shoreline. I wanted to take time to simply sit and rejuvenate before continuing globetrotting. Aaah, but as the adage goes, “We can plan but GOD has other plans.” I always appreciate GOD’s plan. (Drake ain’t the only one that knows how to do that. 😊 )

Well, GOD’s plan was for me to get to the shoreline after the work that was assigned to me had been done. My passion is living to heal the land because as we do, we are healed too. So, GOD took me over many lands to view them from GOD’s vantage point. As I flew, I got to look down at shorelines and look straight out in the clouds and have a talk with GOD. GOD was speaking loud telling me to faithfully journey on.

I appreciated being able to sit back and engage from a different vantage point in Spain-from support of the presenters instead of having to present. I got to watch work that I had been a part of for months get unveiled before the world. I was proud to see the people in person that I had met with via Zoom and emails and to stand shoulder to shoulder with them to capture the team in photos and videos so that it is documented and that this history will live on.

I appreciated the elation of my African brothers in Italy when they saw us emerge from the private car and how they last lingering thing that they did was give us gifts and holler “I love the the Black people!” I said, “I do too!” 😊 What a welcome to a new country! I said, “This was Divinely Ordered” and our driver Luca said, “Yes, it was.”

The word “appreciate” doesn’t go far enough for what I felt in Greece though. The welcome as I entered the building was sincere. I heard “Welcome Her Majesty! We are very happy that you would come all this way.” I worked very hard to accurately respond “Ευχαριστώ” which is pronounced “S’ef-xa-ree-sto.” They smiled and assisted me to make sure I got the intonations exact and when I did, they smiled more.

Very quickly, I felt what I was there for because I felt the way you do when a storm is coming-the wind is mild and still and then it starts to pick up ever so slowly and before you know it, you are caught in a whirlwind. That was definitely how my evening went as more folks arrived that I had to be introduced to. The first one was Jade who is from England and would be the moderator for my session. Although others there were speaking both English and Greek, it felt good to know that I had the pronunciations correct while speaking to her! We had a great chat and a few laughs as we prepared to take the stage for the inaugural “Our Ocean Film Festival.”

When I emerged from the Green Room to go into the arena and take my seat along with my “Black in Marine Science” Family who had come over to Greece to be in the flow with me as we had done in Barcelona, Spain the week before, I was immediately stopped by the producers of the event to introduce me to the MC for the evening. I turned to meet an outstanding gentleman that is a major new anchor in Greece, Yanni Moutsious.

Yanni had a positive energy that went with his style and confidence. He did an outstanding job keeping the program moving along which was his duty for the night. At the end of the program, he nor anyone else there (Believe me, the room was filled with international dignitaries!) left out of a side door. In fact, everyone stayed together, stood together and fellowshipped. Yanni and I were pulled to take hundreds of photos and we chatted and laughed as the paparazzi hit us with flashes over and over and another set of pictures were staged again and again.

When we finally got to just stand together, Yanni said, “You are going to make headlines!” He was “spot on” as they say because before I left Greece, I was sent at least 4 different headlines with images of me on stage highlighting me delivering this message:

When Yanni made that statement, I told him that I would accept that he knew what he was saying given his expertise. Little did I know that he was not just speaking of headlines in Greece, GOD had it that all of us that were part of the BIMS Tidal Wave were featured by the United Nations in their newsletter as a highlight of the UN Ocean Decade Conference and I got that message while in Greece. On the plane I wondered what press release we would send out from my office about all of this but before those words could get typed, I got out of my car on historic St. Helena Island to be told, “Welcome home Queen! I saw you on TV last night!” I said, “I was on TV last night? I wasn’t in the country last night. What was I doing?” “Speaking about the environment.” I then figured that footage from Greece or Spain that had been posted made its way to the US media. However, that was not the case. Yanni’s words from the land of mythology and legend had truly become a living reality. I started getting alerts including one from “Black Enterprise” which I had been in years ago for my fashion company. I was puzzled and clicked the link to find this: https://www.blackenterprise.com/gullah-geechee-southeastern-coastal-islands-climate-change/

Climate Change Threatens Gullah Geechee Community And Culture

I got to my mama’s house and told her what the lady said to me and my mom said, “Yes. You were on TV last night, at 3 am this morning and again on the morning news.” Just as I was about to ask her for details, I heard myself and looked at the TV and pointed and said, “I’m on now!” I looked at a beautifully edited piece that brought back one of the many blessed moments in my life-meeting Sister Brie Jackson. I didn’t even hear the piece clearly because I was thinking about what a lovely day we had walking the shoreline of St. Helena Island together as I talked about climate change with her and we discussed her love of Gullah/Geechee culture and how that came to be.

That shared love of this place and my Gullah/Geechee people came across powerfully in this piece that aired on Earth Day in national syndication and played across the United States and throughout the Gullah/Geechee Nation:

I was truly blessed by the timing of this piece. When I showed it at our “Preparing de Gullah/Geechee Famlee fa de Storm” meeting and the St. Helena Island family including many that are literally my blood kin applauded and said, “Great piece! Good job!” I said out loud, “I’m thankful that my living and work are not in vain.” Praise GAWD!

Living to heal the land involves many early mornings, long days and late nights. Being still caught in that whirlwind that started swirling that evening in Greece as I hit the ground running in the Gullah/Geechee Nation to continue the work on the ground and pun de wata, doesn’t often allow for reflection time. So, GOD put bold headlines and voices before me to let me know that GOD got my message-“Do LAWD! PLEASE don le mi libin be een vain!” Tenki Tenki GAWD fa yeddi mi and ansa. Now, le we keep wokin togedda fa heal de land fa tru. Tenki Tenki GAWD fa disya healin blessin wha I kno cumin frum hunnuh tuh.

Again today, I continue the journey because I am truly living to heal Gullah/Geechee land. May GOD also heal the land upon which you stand. AMEN. Asé!