Envisioning Gullah/Geechee Peace and Sea Island Serenity

Gullah/Geechee Nation ♦ October 18, 2025 ♦ Leave a comment

As the day approached, so did the clouds and the rain. There was a heavy feeling in the air. Things were moving in ways that were unusual and disconnected instead of flowing like the tides normally do to our beloved coast of the Gullah/Geechee Nation. As I tuned out the Weather Channel reports of the approaching nor’easter, I tuned my soul to search for the answer to what was ominous that was weighing down the positive energy that needed to lift up and spread around.

I sat back and observed people drifting and people sending out negativity and confusion. I prayed. I watched souls that looked like they were simply wandering. I prayed. I listened to lies and watched people that were spiritually disengaged take those lies and cons into their souls. I looked up to the heavens and wondered where the blindness was coming from. Logic tried to lured me into thinking that mercury was in retrograde due to the harvest moon and then GOD said, “That which ye sow, ye shall also reap.” I said to myself, “Sow what you want in this season. That is the only way you get a harvest. No sowing, no reaping.”

I shifting my focus away from those that seemed literally “hell bent” to be confused and to cause confusion which is not of GOD. In the midst of having to be out in public places, I had to protect my soul and stay spiritually in tune. As I did, I felt the shifts in the wind. I saw the movements of the clouds. I stood out in the rain and knew it had to fall to cleanse and heal the earth. It was a libation coming down due to ancestral tears that were being cried from the heavens.

Amidst those ancestors, was my brother who had passed on this exact date some years ago as tropical storm winds with similar energy was blowing. I felt him by my side the entire afternoon and evening as we prepared the space for “An Evening of Gullah/Geechee Heritage & Healing.” I knew he wouldn’t miss a program that I was having about ourstory and books!

As much as I was looking forward to FINALLY releasing my two new books and to FINALLY presenting at our new “Bluffton Gullah Cultural Heritage Center,” I was not looking forward to confirming that my people didn’t realize what I did-healing energy is needed. I reflected on this year’s “Gullah Moja Art Experience” and how we gathered together in a healing circle for our libation ceremony indoors as the libation poured from the sky outside. I thought of how joyfilled the space was as we prayed, we sang and we laughed together. I gave thanks for that circle of healing and how it’s ripple effects carried through to this moment.

Before the event began, GOD had me in prayer for and with folks in the space. I knew this is what I was sent to do even more so than the book and artwork release. My soul still felt that there was more to come.

The next day, I prepared for the St. Helena Island Cultural Protection Overlay District (CPO) Victory Celebration. However, the last thing that I personally wanted to do is to be in a crowd. I wanted to sit with GOD and know why the ancestors were crying even harder that morning than they had the night before. There was wailing in these winds.

Saturday morning, I proceeded through The Corners Community and saw a vulture on top of a building overlooking the main intersection. I took a photo but the rain on the glass distorted it. I said aloud, “That is a bad sign.” I had never seen a vulture on the peak of a building there in my entire life. My mind raced back to how we just celebrated that community as the Beaufort County Council presented me with a resolution proclaiming the official location of The Corners. I paused in that positivity as I tried to push off the weight that was coming down like a shroud. I knew in my soul that this ominous feeling was attached to something forthcoming and I prayed it was not connected to any of the celebrations that the island family was about to host.

As the CPO celebration at Penn Center got underway, I asked everyone to get into a circle as the deacon came forth to pray. In the midst of that prayer, my soul couldn’t rest contented. My spiritual vision was somewhat altered by the rain but I knew that there was something out of alignment with the serenity of St. Helena. As I went back through The Corners after the celebration, I felt like a weighted blanket was dropped on my soul as I looked at cars that were gathering and I wondered why nothing felt right. I reflected on the vulture that had flown away earlier as I looked up on top of the highest building in that area again to see if it was still sitting on the building. It wasn’t there but the rain was. It just kept falling.

I would have never thought that what would also be falling was my heart the next morning as I departed the island and I saw an odd color as I looked at cars still as the same location where I thought they shouldn’t have been the day before. I looked at the steps of the bar to my left and saw a color change that didn’t seem correct. I saw someone that looked like the media and I said, “Something horrible happened here.” I looked to my right and I looked directly into the eyes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His poster was facing the direction of those steps. As I looked in his eyes, I saw drops of water and at that moment with everything rewinding in my mind from the days before and my soul trying to link all the signs to this moment, I didn’t know if he was crying, I was crying or we both were crying but I knew that for days, the ancestors had been crying. I had no idea that it was all a precursor to folks’ children dying.

As we left the island, I was in prayer as I listened to sermons back-to-back. I still wondered what it was that I saw on the steps that seemed odd. I prefer facts. So, I didn’t jump to a conclusion of what I thought I saw. However, I already knew in my heart and mind that something horrible had happened. Hours later, what I thought I was seeing through the rain droplets on the glass was exactly what I thought-it was blood! The blood of young people now was going into Sea Island soil with the blood our our ancestors that toiled this land. Their blood should NEVER have been spilled! I hurt for their mothers and grandmothers and children and families. I now knew why the ancestors were crying out from the heavens for days. Yet, folks could hear.

When I was told that four people had been killed and one of them was Junior, all I could do was shake my head as my mind flashed back to that scene and now I got confirmation that what I was looking at was what I thought it was. I felt like I stepped in a time machine and went backwards because all I could do at that moment was see Dr. King looking at me and me looking at him as the water fell. I shook my head. I walked away from hearing this news. I just kept walking. I just kept walking.

As I awoke and walked down the hall a couple days later after having stayed up the previous night just praying for guidance for the Gullah/Geechee Nation as we now dealt with this horrific situation almost one year to the date of when we lost several of our Gullah/Geechee family at Sapelo Island, GA, I saw water once again in my mind. This time, it wasn’t the rain. It was the creek. As I washed my face, I suddenly saw Junior come to me and smile. I pulled the washcloth away and paused. I could hear his voice saying, “Cuz, I’m still fishing.” I saw the water again and then I recalled how he and I stood in the parking lot in Beaufort last year as he came from the water with his son and showed me the fish that they had caught. I remember smiling because he was passing down a family tradition. I was happy to see that! In this moment, I was happy to see him. I felt him saying to me: “Cuz, y’all are crying but I’m alright. I’m still fishing.” At that moment, I smiled. It felt like it had been a long time since a true smile was in my heart and on my face but at that moment, I smiled. I had closure. I prayed for the rest of the family but I knew that Cuz was alright. GOD’s got him. I pray we we will be alright.

I reflected for the rest of the day and I searched for the final photo that Junior and I took together. I saw that the Town of Yemassee had issued a commendation for him and I was proud of him and proud of that. More so, I saw how his siblings were all writing about the prayers and uplifting words that he would send to them daily and I realized that I needed to be like him-still fishing. I immediately felt a peace that surpassed all understanding.

I knew why GOD told me not to host a booksigning event but an evening of healing. I knew why the day after that I still needed to gather the people in a circle of prayer and song. I knew why GOD had it that I reached out to contact Gullah/Geechee prayer warriors and counselors as they were reaching to me at the exact times. We all needed to fish the way we do traditionally-cast a net that is a circle and draw all men and women unto GOD.

I thought about this as I was getting dressed to go to my mom’s to tell her that there was going to be a prayer vigil in Beaufort that I was going to go to that evening. I wanted to make sure she would be ready to go too. She was ready the moment I said, I was going to pray. As I talked to her, I realized that where we planned to go was actually the same lot where Junior and I had stood and talked! I looked up and I smiled. I could see his face as he smiled. I could hear his voice again saying, “Cuz, I’m still fishing.”

• Matthew 4:18-19: “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Bible Repository)
• Mark 1:16-17: “And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” (www.myholybible.org)
• Luke 5:10: “From henceforth thou shalt catch men.” (Addressed to Simon Peter after a miraculous catch of fish.) (www.myholybible.org)

The phrase “fishers of men” uses the metaphor of fishing to describe the mission of Jesus’ disciples which all Christians are truly called to be. I delved into this deeper like rowing out in a bateau sometimes requires for you to do in order to get the catch that you left the shoreline to obtain. You have to go out into deeper waters. So, a deeper spiritual dive provided these insights about being “fishers of men:”

• A change of vocation and identity
  Jesus calls ordinary fishermen (Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John) and says, in effect: “Leave your nets, leave your old way of life, follow Me, and I will give you a new purpose.” (pitwm.net)
• From catching fish to gathering people
  The metaphor implies: just as fishermen cast nets and gather fish, the disciples are to “gather” people into the kingdom of God through the gospel. (Christianity.com)
• Dependence on Jesus
  Note the phrase: “I will make you fishers of men.” It’s Jesus who equips, transforms, gives the mission. Not simply: “You go,” but “Follow me and I will make you.” (Reddit)
• Evangelism & discipleship as lifestyle
  It’s more than one event—it’s about living in a way that draws people to Christ, sharing the gospel, inviting, serving, teaching. (Bible Hub)
• Going into the deep, casting the net
  Some commentaries highlight that fishing wasn’t always guaranteed success: nets had to be thrown, one had to trust, wait, sometimes come up empty. So the metaphor includes risk, waiting, sending out the message of Christ, and trusting God for fruit. (Christianity.com)

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📝 A Short Summary

When Jesus said to His first disciples, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men,” He was calling them into a radical new purpose. They were leaving their ordinary job of fishing to undertake the extraordinary job of inviting people into a transformed life in Christ. They were no longer catching fish; they were catching souls—bringing people into relationship with God, into the community of faith, and into the Kingdom.

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The line “bringing people into relationship with GOD, into the community of faith” struck me because I had already gone live on Facebook to remind native Gullah/Geechees that as Gullah/Geechee Anointed People, that is who were are and we MUST stay in faith and stay together and not let others change our story or narrative or community:

https://www.facebook.com/GullahGeecheeWeBe/videos/845277174490547

You will have what you say. Many say things because they can’t see what is possible. I believe that it is possible for the healing to continue to flow throughout the Gullah/Geechee Nation and to ripple from our shoreline to other communities around the world. I envision the peace and Sea Island serenity returning to Sapelo and St. Helena Islands in a very short period of time. I see us as native Gullah/Geechees continuing to pray for and with each other on these shorelines and honoring Junior’s legacy. For him, I’m still fishing.

Peace, love, blessings and healing,

Queen Quet

Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation

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Join Queen Quet for an afternoon of healing through art at the “Gullah/Geechee CREATE” event on Tuesday, October 28, 2025 at 4 pm at the St. Helena Branch Library. Then come to a Gullah/Geechee Healing Circle at Jasmine Cottage at Penn Center on Saturday, November 1st at 11 am with “Inner Rest Counseling” and prayer warriors from the Gullah/Geechee Nation.