User:Meredith Coleman McGee

Meredith Coleman McGee, MISSISSIPPI AUTHOR/BUSINESS WOMAN/ACTIVIST

Meredith Coleman McGee is an author, a professional writer, and a publisher. She was born July 20, 1963 in Los Angeles, California to Robert and Hazel Janell Meredith Coleman. Hazel is a younger sister of Second Reconstruction icon James Meredith. Hazel's maternal family had migrated to Los Angeles during the 1950s. Robert completed the process of moving his family from Los Angeles during the after mass of the Watt's Riot. McGee grew up in Jackson, Mississippi where she resides today and lives with her husband William E. McGee Jr. They have one adult son (Waibel, 2012).

Meredith Coleman McGee speaking at the Book Gallary in Greenville, MS.JPG FAMILY

James Howard Meredith integrated the University of Mississippi, September 30, 1962 which was a pivotal event during the Human Rights Struggle in the 1960s. Like her parents and uncle, McGee is an author; she wrote the first commercially published biography about James Meredith entitled James Meredith: Warrior and the America that created him which is a textbook that has reached readers, particularly college students, worldwide. The book covers the life (from birth to age 79) and times of James Meredith in the context of the America that created him and his generation.

WRITINGS

She also wrote Nashida: Visits the Mississippi State Capitol,Nashida: Visits the Smith Robertson Museum, children's book; Odyssey, a collection of her poems and other writings; and coauthored Married to Sin, a memoir about Darlene D. Collier. McGee is a professional writer, a website administrator, the publisher and acquisition editor of Meredith Etc, and a contributing writer for the Jackson Advocate, the oldest African American newspaper in Mississippi. She has contributed articles on James Meredith and other icons such as Vernon Dahmer, Unita Blackwell, Shirley Sherrod, Billie Jean Young and on topics ranging from student loan debt to public education. McGee is the lead author of the My First Book SeriesBold text, a volume of six school preparatory books.

Meredith Coleman McGee & James Meredith at the Miss Writer's Guild Conference, Oxford, MS.JPG Alma Fisher, a former librarian, who wrote the Introduction of Odyssey said, "Mississippi author Meredith Coleman McGee presents the reader with a triple expression of literary form in ODYSSEY, a uniquely written, well researched work which produces a family of fiction and nonfiction writings under one cover." James Meredith became the first published author in the family with the release of Three Years in Mississippi. He has published 27 works including two memoirs about his life and other books about his family history. Meredith Etc published the third generation of authors in the Meredith extended family in October of 2015. Hazel's great-granddaughter JaNiya Williams, age nine, became the youngest author, and Hazel's granddaughter, Calla Ridgeway, became the youngest illustrator of a published work at age 14 with the publication of Saving the Manatees.

McGee believes intellectual development and understanding the history of the community through books, documentaries or film are the stepping stones to rebuilding Jackson [her hometown]. She obtained 16 rejection letters before one of her manuscripts landed a book deal. She desires to help novice writings get in the book publishing industry (Ware, 2017).

In the Summer of 2015, James Meredith walked treks in predominantly African American communities passing out sleeves of paper containing The Golden Rule and The Ten Commandments to citizens. McGee noted, "He remains active. He wants to improve morality in the black community (Torres, 2015, 8A). McGee's favorite quote by her uncle is "You should let no excuse stand in your way." After all, even though Meredith was shot by a sniper June 6, 1966, in the face of death he walked the last few miles of the walk he started with Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael, and thousands of others during the Meredith March Against Fear which was the last massage march during the Civil Rights Movement which drew 30,000 onlookers to the state capitol on June 26, 1966 in Jackson, Mississippi (Bennett, 1988, 578).

JSU Reading Community Book Talk featuring Meredith Coleman McGee discussing her book James Meredith Warrior and the America That Created Him.JPG Jackson Advocate Publisher Alice Thomas-Tisdale described McGee, a long time contributing writer of the paper as a "heroin in the war against injustice (http://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A3560C)." Clarion Ledger Investigative Reporter Jerry Mitchel credited the biography with exposing readers to James Meredith's early life (Mitchel, 2013).

ACCOMPLISHMENTS/CAREER

In August of 1997, McGee founded Heirs United Investment Club with 11 family members and one family friend. Their investment club is a 2010 Booker T. Washington Economic Summit award recipient, and a partner of the Coalition for a Prosperous Mississippi in which McGee is a founding board member.

McGee previously served as an acquisition editor of Mose Dantzler Press. Two of the manuscripts she acquired: Odyssey and Starkishia: Estrella were published by Meredith Etc. She was also formerly a community organizer for Southern Echo, a business developer for the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, an assistant director of development for Voice of Calvary Ministries, an account executive for The Mississippi Link, and the owner of Sunrise Foods # II (TS & M Super Stop). She organized and served as the media coordinator of the 2009 James Meredith Walk for the Poor trek through the Mississippi Delta. She also walked beside her uncle during treks of his 2012 Walk for Education and Truth.

EDUCATION

McGee holds a bachelor’s degree in Legal Administration from the University of West Florida and a masters of arts in Rural Community Development and Public Policy from Antioch University McGregor (now Antioch University Midwest).

AFFILIATIONS

She is a rural fellow with the Rural Development Leadership Network, based in NYC, and a member of the Clinton Ink Slingers in Clinton, Mississippi.

References

Bennett, Jr. Lerone. (1988). Before the Mayflower. A History of Black America. New York: Penguin Books.

Collier, Darlene & McGee, Meredith Coleman. (2013). Married to Sin. Brandon: Mose Dantzler Press.

McGee, Meredith Coleman. (2013). James Meredith: Warrior and the America that created him. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishing.

McGee, Meredith Coleman. (2013). "Odyssey." Jackson: Meredith Etc.

McGee, Meredith C. A Mississippi icon’s family traditions, Jackson Advocate, July 9-15, 2015, 9C. http://www.jacksonadvocateonline.com/today-paper/?pIds=15470 McGee, Meredith C. Economic Development: A Protection Against Violence Against Women – McGee’s Segment – Entrepreneurship & Empowerment of Women

McGee, Meredith C. “Empowering Rural Women in Poor Communities” in conjunction with United Nations Commission on the Status of Women Conference (CSW 56) in NYC March 2, 2012. McGee is the co-author of Married to Sin and the author of Odyssey and James Meredith: Warrior and the America that created him.

McGee, Meredith C. Spotlight on seven southern authors, Jackson Advocate, March 26-April 1, 2015, 8B http://www.jacksonadvocateonline.com/archive-8th-april/?pIds=14166

Mitchell, Jerry (19 Aug. 2013). A half century ago, James Meredith turned the cries of “Never” upside down in Mississippi. Clarion Ledger. http://blogs.clarionledger.com/jmitchell/2013/08/19/a-half-century-ago-james-meredith-turned-the-cries-of-never-upside-down/ Clarion Ledger.

NPR Tell Me More. Guest host Celeste Headlee interviews Professor Frank Lambert and Meredith McGee 09/28/1012. The Fight to Desegregate Ole Miss, 50 Years Later.http://www.npr.org/2012/09/28/161953187/the-fight-to-desegregate-ole-miss-50-years-later

Reed, Shameka. (March 29 - April 9, 2012). Using Her Voice. Jackson Advocate, 1B.

Stevens, Courtney. (15 September 2013). Niece Writes Book on Groundbreaking Uncle. Bolivar Commercial, 1A.

Thomas-Tisdale, A. Niece’s Book on James Meredith an Important Read. Alice, Jackson Advocate, 1A, 16A. 1A, 16A

Torres, J. (28 Sept. 2015). Civil rights icon keeps walking, Florida Today, 4A, 8A. http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/john-a-torres/2015/09/28/torres-civil-rights-icon-keeps-walking jamesmeredith/72974892/

Waibel, Elizabeth, (April 2, 2012) Person of the Day-Meredith McGee, Jackson Free Press, http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/person_of_the_day_meredith_mcgee_04022012.

Ware, Alexis. Jacksonian Meredith McGee. (Jan 4-10, 2017) Jackson Free Press, 3. http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2017/jan/04/meredith-mcgee/