| The Day I Met Rosa Parks September 25, 2005 Rosa Parks 1913 - 2005 I had received an email to attend the Black Women's National Congress. They had wanted to know if I would be interested in exhibiting my art at this year's brunch. M finances had bee n rough and hesitated to reply. But as I prayed about it God gave me a peace with it.I called and made arrangements to attend. That Sunday was an unusual day. I had stayed up late for nights painting and framing prints. There was an anti- war protest going on in D.C at the same time I would have attended that but was committed to being at this event. I walked into the hotel and set up my art upstairs. It took some time. The atmosphere was filled with excitement and truth. Many Black women I consider elders of our time and great leaders were there. My table was near the restroom so I was very blessed to have constant traffic and see many women I consider heroines of our faith. In the afternoon the crowd had slowed down. Many were listening to speeches and networking. As I stood there an elderly woman approached me about my art.I began to explain to her my quest to preserve Black history and make sure our culture is educated about the past. I talked for about 8 minutes explaining my art and soul. A camera man came up and began taking pictures of me and this older lady. I had talked not aware of whom I was talking to, but I knew something was different. She looked at me and smiled and asked did I ship my art? I replied yes and that I made sure that it stays reasonable in price so that my people could purchase the art and have positive images in their home. She shook my hand and handed me her brochure. Her face was glowing and skin was soft like baby skin. No wrinkles stuck out and no real signs of age, but signs of strength and truth.As I looked down at the paper work with the address, it was then that I realized I had been talking to Rosa Parks. For a few moments I was stunned and the room seemed to stand still in time. There was no one standing there but me and her and God looking down. She smiled and walked away and I was still stunned that I had the awesome privilege to meet her and share my heart. She listened to every word and gave a quiet sigh of approval.I could not speak or think for the next 10 minutes. God had given me the greatest blessing that day. I paint history, but that day I met history that changed our lives as Black people. Weeks later I emailed her on Friday afternoon inquiring about preserving history through any project that she had. She died that weekend. A part of me had just begun to live because of the price she paid for my freedom. The baton has been passed on to us to carry on what God had her begin in the modern Civil Rights movement. It really began 2000+ years ago when the greatest Civil Right was given to all mankind by Jesus Christ, to be free from sin and walk with God through Him. This website is committed to the work on the cross and the work of the cross that we bear every day.I am thankful for meeting Rosa Parks. God gave me a priceless gift that day, to look true courage in the eye and hold her legacy in my heart. It is my journey now that I must pray through. She was 42 when she sat down, I am 43 and I am just being to stand...Thank you to all those who fought for my freedom and the Rosa Parks who will be birthed in this era of trying times! |
| Looking for home/Long Version Sote Films by Janie McGee Salt of the Earth Films |
| Who we are..... Ramon and Janie McGee In 1987 I began working in the performing arts in churches after many years as an artist and creative performer. I performed music, dance, and drama in various venues. We got married in 1990. We have a son and daughter who are very creative and have gained much success. Our walk with God as Christians has been very different but Spirit filled. We wanted to share our experiences in words, films, art, books, and dance. The Lord laid on our hearts to start and pick back up where we left off with the ministry " SPEAK". It comes form the book of Ezekiel 3 and 4. We hope to inspire, encourage, up,lift, and provoke thought with this ministry to cause many to come to accept and know Christ. We hope the love of God will come forth in all we do. Look for more! Our goal is not to sell books, preach on the circuit or, criticize the church, but to bring forth biblical truth and the gospel through the creative tools God has given us. More to come! |
| Civil Resistance Janie McGee 2007 3 x 4 Wood Sold |
| And now for the World we live in... |
| A Christian online Magazine for the Arts! |
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| Jamile McGee from FOX TV Series "So you think you can dance?" Season 1 finalist. Click here to go to his website!! |
| Jasmine McGee Chocolate Monkey Film/Music She is very talented and gifted. Click here to go to his website!! |
| Speak! |
Coming In Touch with
Your Purpose in Your 40s
A lot of us in our 40s are in the age range where our children are leaving
home or close to leaving home. A lot of us feel, “Yeah, now it’s our time
to have fun and enjoy ourselves.” Enjoyment has its place in our lives.
Have we defined enjoyment in too lightweight a manner though?
As examples, just being free to travel around, buy a second home, take
gambling trips to Vegas, let our hair down. Kicking back and having fun. Is
this all we want to do at this stage of our lives? More importantly, is this
all that we’re called to do at this stage of our lives?
Probably not, because the younger generation following us are watching
our examples. And Lord knows, we’ve made a lot of mistakes as leaders
in our 40s.What do we want to teach our children? What do we want to
teach the younger generation? That the acquisition of material goods is
the highest goal of life? Or is there something more? Many of us are
wanting to live more authentically. To recapture the dreams, as well as
the energy of our youth.
For me it meant coming back in touch with the civil engineering, which I
read about with a passion as a child living in Africa. Did this mean I went
back to school for civil engineering? No. One of the things that many of
us in our 40s have discovered is that even if we made some bad life
choices, pursued the wrong careers. Or made choices that didn’t reflect
our deepest held dreams, that God has a way of working us back towards
fulfilling those dreams.
In my case it meant taking baby steps to get back on the right path.
Some activities are past their season because we in our 40s are in a
different season. For example, I am no longer an 18 year old, just starting
a college career. So for me, jumping into a full-time civil engineering
program is not the path. Instead, moving towards working in a civil
engineering company, around civil engineers, and learning more about
the industry are steps that feel right for me at this stage of my life.
Don’t get me wrong though, sometimes getting back in touch with who
God made you to be and your deepest calling can sometimes involve
radical change. I remember the story of a man who was a well-placed HR
professional in a multi-billion dollar company. As the years went along he
became more and more unhappy, because his day-to-day work bore
little relation to what most excited him. He ended up quitting one day
and launched into a whole new career of writing. It wasn’t an easy step
for him to take. And the time was not at all convenient, because he like
most of us, had family and financial obligations. But the energy and
passion that were released by him taking that radical step and letting go
of an unauthentic life path launched him to much higher levels of
success and contentment.
There are a lot of different reasons why people chose their career and life
directions. But the reasons are not always good. For example, one man I
know was challenged to pursue mathematics because he was told that
as a Black man he couldn’t or didn’t have the talent to pursue
mathematics. The man went on to gain a university degree in
mathematics and become a leader in the U.S. federal government IT
sector. Was he called to mathematics? Does he love mathematics? I
don’t know if he loved mathematics, but that challenge molded his
career choices.
Similarly, I don’t know what all of my Dad’s motivations for pursuing
physics were. But I can speculate about some of the reasons. He
definitely wanted to get out of the Deep South of Mississippi. He wanted
to escape a harsh home environment. He wanted better economic
opportunities, which were afforded by his service in the military and by
getting his PhD in physics. But at this stage in his life in his 70s my Dad
finally returned to farming which he loves and had wanted to do for most
of his life.
My life, the life of my fellow 40 year olds and their parents often reveal
that very few of us in this life travel in a straight line to our goals. Yes
there are those relatively few that know very early in their lives that they
want to pursue a certain path. For example, those who’ve known from
childhood that they’ve wanted to be a doctor or teacher or some other
occupation.
For years I considered those people who knew early what they wanted to
do as most fortunate. In fact, and it was wrong, but I felt an envy of those
people. The fact that they had clarity in direction seemed to make their
lives so much easier. If you’re like me though, maybe you didn’t have a
clear path or direction early in life. Or maybe you felt strongly about your
calling but reacted in fear to the many negative voices in this world.
Voices that say things like, “You can’t pursue that path. It’s not
practical.” Or, “You’ll never make a living singing. You need to chose a
secure career path like accounting.” Or, “Your Dad was a lawyer, his dad
was a lawyer. I think the best thing to do is for you to pursue law as well.”
Or, “Stick with the family business. It’s more secure than all of that art stuff
you’ve been pursuing.”
Too often we’ve reacted and internalized these negative voices and
taken the wrong paths in life. Or at best taken paths that don’t reflect our
deepest callings and values. So many of us find ourselves in our 40s trying
to recapture and reconnect with childhood dreams. At this stage of our
lives many of us have struggled with trying to reconnect and recapture
the essence of who we really are. When we as adults in our 40s react
poorly to this challenge facing many of us, we often exhibit rebellious,
acting out behavior. Such behavior as sexual immorality, drinking,
binging, drug addiction and a whole host of activities to try and
medicate our pain.
I didn’t really understand this challenge of the 40s until I started seeing
some of my own acting out and self-destructiveness. I talked with my wife
about this and found that a lot of the self-destructiveness I had walked in
for years is because I had internalized many of those negative voices
from childhood, that I allowed to negate my perceived value, dreams,
callings and talents.
When I recognized more clearly how much self-destructiveness and
keeping the brakes on myself had cost me, I felt very remorseful and very
regretful. Along with that I saw my sinfulness as a human being, and how
patient, loving and kind God is and has been all of these years of my life.
He has not slammed me with my wickedness, nor destroyed me for my sins.
Instead I saw how God as a loving Father has lovingly blessed me to the
extent that I could receive His blessings in the areas of writing, and my
career, and the engineering arena mentioned earlier. As examples, he
placed me around a number of engineers, primarily in the space sciences
arena, because that is the area I was most interested in. Even though
God has been calling me for years to focus more on the things He is doing
right here on earth, He allowed me for a season to work in the aerospace
arena. But pulled me out gently, and firmly and set my writing sights in a
different direction.
Mind you much of God’s dealings with me in the career arena, and the
arenas of goals, visions, and dreams over the past 18 years, has occurred
since I have been a Christian. That is, my awareness of His dealings with
me came more into view once I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and
Savior. So what does this mean for us, that is, for all of us in our 40s at this
day and stage of our lives?
My wife and friends have a statement with which we encourage one
another saying, “It’s too late in the day.” Meaning that now in our 40s it’s
too late in the day for us to be pursuing unauthentic paths that don’t
relate to who we really are on the inside. It’s too late in the day to keep
pretending we don’t know deep inside the path we are to take. It’s too
late in the day to let fear keep us from acknowledging who and how God’
s made us.
Being aware, accepting the truth of who we are, no longer listening to
the voices of fear. Acknowledging God our loving Father, and Jesus
Christ as our Lord and Savior is a sure path to being the type of leaders,
the type of parents, and the type of people we wish to be in our 40s.
May God give us the wisdom and the grace to accept Jesus Christ as our
Lord and Savior and be filled with His Holy Spirit now, Who leads and
guides us into all the truth in Jesus’ name.
We’re in our 40s and the best is yet to come.
Your Purpose in Your 40s
A lot of us in our 40s are in the age range where our children are leaving
home or close to leaving home. A lot of us feel, “Yeah, now it’s our time
to have fun and enjoy ourselves.” Enjoyment has its place in our lives.
Have we defined enjoyment in too lightweight a manner though?
As examples, just being free to travel around, buy a second home, take
gambling trips to Vegas, let our hair down. Kicking back and having fun. Is
this all we want to do at this stage of our lives? More importantly, is this
all that we’re called to do at this stage of our lives?
Probably not, because the younger generation following us are watching
our examples. And Lord knows, we’ve made a lot of mistakes as leaders
in our 40s.What do we want to teach our children? What do we want to
teach the younger generation? That the acquisition of material goods is
the highest goal of life? Or is there something more? Many of us are
wanting to live more authentically. To recapture the dreams, as well as
the energy of our youth.
For me it meant coming back in touch with the civil engineering, which I
read about with a passion as a child living in Africa. Did this mean I went
back to school for civil engineering? No. One of the things that many of
us in our 40s have discovered is that even if we made some bad life
choices, pursued the wrong careers. Or made choices that didn’t reflect
our deepest held dreams, that God has a way of working us back towards
fulfilling those dreams.
In my case it meant taking baby steps to get back on the right path.
Some activities are past their season because we in our 40s are in a
different season. For example, I am no longer an 18 year old, just starting
a college career. So for me, jumping into a full-time civil engineering
program is not the path. Instead, moving towards working in a civil
engineering company, around civil engineers, and learning more about
the industry are steps that feel right for me at this stage of my life.
Don’t get me wrong though, sometimes getting back in touch with who
God made you to be and your deepest calling can sometimes involve
radical change. I remember the story of a man who was a well-placed HR
professional in a multi-billion dollar company. As the years went along he
became more and more unhappy, because his day-to-day work bore
little relation to what most excited him. He ended up quitting one day
and launched into a whole new career of writing. It wasn’t an easy step
for him to take. And the time was not at all convenient, because he like
most of us, had family and financial obligations. But the energy and
passion that were released by him taking that radical step and letting go
of an unauthentic life path launched him to much higher levels of
success and contentment.
There are a lot of different reasons why people chose their career and life
directions. But the reasons are not always good. For example, one man I
know was challenged to pursue mathematics because he was told that
as a Black man he couldn’t or didn’t have the talent to pursue
mathematics. The man went on to gain a university degree in
mathematics and become a leader in the U.S. federal government IT
sector. Was he called to mathematics? Does he love mathematics? I
don’t know if he loved mathematics, but that challenge molded his
career choices.
Similarly, I don’t know what all of my Dad’s motivations for pursuing
physics were. But I can speculate about some of the reasons. He
definitely wanted to get out of the Deep South of Mississippi. He wanted
to escape a harsh home environment. He wanted better economic
opportunities, which were afforded by his service in the military and by
getting his PhD in physics. But at this stage in his life in his 70s my Dad
finally returned to farming which he loves and had wanted to do for most
of his life.
My life, the life of my fellow 40 year olds and their parents often reveal
that very few of us in this life travel in a straight line to our goals. Yes
there are those relatively few that know very early in their lives that they
want to pursue a certain path. For example, those who’ve known from
childhood that they’ve wanted to be a doctor or teacher or some other
occupation.
For years I considered those people who knew early what they wanted to
do as most fortunate. In fact, and it was wrong, but I felt an envy of those
people. The fact that they had clarity in direction seemed to make their
lives so much easier. If you’re like me though, maybe you didn’t have a
clear path or direction early in life. Or maybe you felt strongly about your
calling but reacted in fear to the many negative voices in this world.
Voices that say things like, “You can’t pursue that path. It’s not
practical.” Or, “You’ll never make a living singing. You need to chose a
secure career path like accounting.” Or, “Your Dad was a lawyer, his dad
was a lawyer. I think the best thing to do is for you to pursue law as well.”
Or, “Stick with the family business. It’s more secure than all of that art stuff
you’ve been pursuing.”
Too often we’ve reacted and internalized these negative voices and
taken the wrong paths in life. Or at best taken paths that don’t reflect our
deepest callings and values. So many of us find ourselves in our 40s trying
to recapture and reconnect with childhood dreams. At this stage of our
lives many of us have struggled with trying to reconnect and recapture
the essence of who we really are. When we as adults in our 40s react
poorly to this challenge facing many of us, we often exhibit rebellious,
acting out behavior. Such behavior as sexual immorality, drinking,
binging, drug addiction and a whole host of activities to try and
medicate our pain.
I didn’t really understand this challenge of the 40s until I started seeing
some of my own acting out and self-destructiveness. I talked with my wife
about this and found that a lot of the self-destructiveness I had walked in
for years is because I had internalized many of those negative voices
from childhood, that I allowed to negate my perceived value, dreams,
callings and talents.
When I recognized more clearly how much self-destructiveness and
keeping the brakes on myself had cost me, I felt very remorseful and very
regretful. Along with that I saw my sinfulness as a human being, and how
patient, loving and kind God is and has been all of these years of my life.
He has not slammed me with my wickedness, nor destroyed me for my sins.
Instead I saw how God as a loving Father has lovingly blessed me to the
extent that I could receive His blessings in the areas of writing, and my
career, and the engineering arena mentioned earlier. As examples, he
placed me around a number of engineers, primarily in the space sciences
arena, because that is the area I was most interested in. Even though
God has been calling me for years to focus more on the things He is doing
right here on earth, He allowed me for a season to work in the aerospace
arena. But pulled me out gently, and firmly and set my writing sights in a
different direction.
Mind you much of God’s dealings with me in the career arena, and the
arenas of goals, visions, and dreams over the past 18 years, has occurred
since I have been a Christian. That is, my awareness of His dealings with
me came more into view once I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and
Savior. So what does this mean for us, that is, for all of us in our 40s at this
day and stage of our lives?
My wife and friends have a statement with which we encourage one
another saying, “It’s too late in the day.” Meaning that now in our 40s it’s
too late in the day for us to be pursuing unauthentic paths that don’t
relate to who we really are on the inside. It’s too late in the day to keep
pretending we don’t know deep inside the path we are to take. It’s too
late in the day to let fear keep us from acknowledging who and how God’
s made us.
Being aware, accepting the truth of who we are, no longer listening to
the voices of fear. Acknowledging God our loving Father, and Jesus
Christ as our Lord and Savior is a sure path to being the type of leaders,
the type of parents, and the type of people we wish to be in our 40s.
May God give us the wisdom and the grace to accept Jesus Christ as our
Lord and Savior and be filled with His Holy Spirit now, Who leads and
guides us into all the truth in Jesus’ name.
We’re in our 40s and the best is yet to come.
Ramon McGee
| Janie McGee |
Ramon McGee
Blood
Observe how much land, wealth, and benefits European Americans have accrued in
this country over the years. Some, maybe most of that wealth has come from the
blood, sweat and tears of Blacks. Yet if I’m honest, I know that most societies in the
history of this world have been built upon the shed of blood of the poor and
oppressed. A prime example of this fact is the prevalence of slavery to a greater or
lesser extent throughout most societies in history.
Along with that has been the consistent practice of blood sacrifices of humans, not
only in ancient times but also today. Knowledgeable people know that there’s power in
human blood. The Bible says that Abel’s blood cried out. Scientific study of blood has
shown that it possesses unique lifelike properties resident in the blood itself.
Medical science knows that if the blood in the human body is pure, fresh, and
relatively uncontaminated that the body can exhibit tremendous health. As Christians
we know that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. What does this mean?
Among other things it means that no matter what kind of sin and evil we commit, that
all of our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.
The key thing about the blood of Jesus Christ and its ability to cleanse us from all sin
is that this power must be received by human beings. It must be accepted by an act of
will to have the most efficacious effect. For example, if a man is a drug dealer and a
murderer all for all of his adult life and never asks Jesus Christ to forgive him of his
sins, and wash him with His precious blood; then that man will not receive the full
spiritual benefits available to him in this life nor in the world to come.
One thing that most societies recognize, whether ancient or modern is that, in a
spiritual sense, the shedding of blood opens up doors into the spirit world. Of course
this is not a new or original idea. God instituted the sacrifice of the innocent lamb
when the Hebrews were in Egypt. When the blood of that lamb was placed upon the
door posts of the Hebrews’ homes, and as long as they stayed in their homes they
were safe from the death angel that passed over the land.
Similarly the harlot, who hid the Hebrew spies in the Old Testament, hung a red scarf
outside of her window. As long as she and her family stayed inside of their house, the
house marked in the red color of blood, they were safe.
There’s an old Christian song that says, “There is power, power, wonder working
power in the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonder working power in the
precious blood of the lamb.” Let us all receive and accept the precious blood of Jesus
Christ. Be washed from all of our sins in this life, and be counted worthy to reach
heaven.
May the love of God, the love of Jesus Christ, and the comfort of the Holy Ghost fill
your life in Jesus’ name.
Observe how much land, wealth, and benefits European Americans have accrued in
this country over the years. Some, maybe most of that wealth has come from the
blood, sweat and tears of Blacks. Yet if I’m honest, I know that most societies in the
history of this world have been built upon the shed of blood of the poor and
oppressed. A prime example of this fact is the prevalence of slavery to a greater or
lesser extent throughout most societies in history.
Along with that has been the consistent practice of blood sacrifices of humans, not
only in ancient times but also today. Knowledgeable people know that there’s power in
human blood. The Bible says that Abel’s blood cried out. Scientific study of blood has
shown that it possesses unique lifelike properties resident in the blood itself.
Medical science knows that if the blood in the human body is pure, fresh, and
relatively uncontaminated that the body can exhibit tremendous health. As Christians
we know that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. What does this mean?
Among other things it means that no matter what kind of sin and evil we commit, that
all of our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.
The key thing about the blood of Jesus Christ and its ability to cleanse us from all sin
is that this power must be received by human beings. It must be accepted by an act of
will to have the most efficacious effect. For example, if a man is a drug dealer and a
murderer all for all of his adult life and never asks Jesus Christ to forgive him of his
sins, and wash him with His precious blood; then that man will not receive the full
spiritual benefits available to him in this life nor in the world to come.
One thing that most societies recognize, whether ancient or modern is that, in a
spiritual sense, the shedding of blood opens up doors into the spirit world. Of course
this is not a new or original idea. God instituted the sacrifice of the innocent lamb
when the Hebrews were in Egypt. When the blood of that lamb was placed upon the
door posts of the Hebrews’ homes, and as long as they stayed in their homes they
were safe from the death angel that passed over the land.
Similarly the harlot, who hid the Hebrew spies in the Old Testament, hung a red scarf
outside of her window. As long as she and her family stayed inside of their house, the
house marked in the red color of blood, they were safe.
There’s an old Christian song that says, “There is power, power, wonder working
power in the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonder working power in the
precious blood of the lamb.” Let us all receive and accept the precious blood of Jesus
Christ. Be washed from all of our sins in this life, and be counted worthy to reach
heaven.
May the love of God, the love of Jesus Christ, and the comfort of the Holy Ghost fill
your life in Jesus’ name.
| Trying something New..... Café press is a website committed to printing high quality custom designs. Below are a few shops I open to get started. If you are looking for Black art in card, prints , and t-shirt, check out the shop I have on their site to purchase product. If you are looking for custom designs of my art to combine with their production email what you are looking for. We can work together. Enjoy! |
