Meet Reggie Kee

We were lucky to catch up with Reggie Kee recently and have shared our conversation below.

Reggie, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I found my purpose through my pain. I found my training through my trauma. What pain, what trauma, you ask? The pain of rejection. I hear a pastor say once that man’s rejection is God’s consecration. That resonates with me so much because I have an entire workshop and book that focuses on turning people’s pain into passion which leads to one’s purpose. Allow me to explain.

Since I know what it feels like to have the thing that makes you unique also alienate and isolate you, I learned to lean on God Who Psalm 134:19 says made me “fearfully and wonderfully” – meaning He was in awe of what He created. While that’s beneficial for me to understand for myself, I find it to be a special honor to do the same for others. Too many of us have felt marginalized, ostracized, or tossed to the side because people rejected us for the very thing God put within us before He broke the mold.

My color made me stand out in my Christian elementary school. Once I transferred to public school, my love of learning and unwillingness to conform made me stick out like a sore thumb. It hurt for the longest time, but it began to create in me an empathy for others who go through the same thing (but for different reasons specific to their journeys).

As I grew into an adult and continued developing my relationship with God, He positioned me to become a founding member and licensed minister of a church which specialized in equipping God’s children through discipleship. This discipleship focused on identifying the God-given talents we all have as it relates to the reason He put us on this planet.

What brought it all together was a book by Mike Murdock called The Assignment which said that the brokenness of the world breaks God’s heart in such a way that He created beings in His image and likeness to address and fix the brokenness. How, you ask? By giving each of us a piece of His broken heart that will fixate on the broken thing in the world. When something breaks our heart and hurts us, it creates trauma. As we attempt to heal from that trauma yet see it hurting other people, we’ll begin to hate that trauma enough to want to do something about it. At first, we may point to it and say, “SOMEBODY should fix that!”

However, the more we say it and the more agitated we get when we see it operating in the world, the more we’ll realize that we’ve found the Goliath to our inner David. It won’t matter how big this trauma operates and propagates in the world, we will develop a PASSION to fix it! Upon reading this book and embracing Bruce George’s #GeniusIsCommon movement (which reappropriates the word GENIUS as something that is not exclusive to the brainiacs of the world, but it common to ALL people), God gave me an equation for GENIUS: PASSION + TALENT + PURPOSE.

Simply stated, TALENT is the tool God gives us (thus, the “God-given” talent) to fix what’s broken in the world. David had his staff, sling shot, and five smooth stones. He could have easily overlooked them because he used them so often to guard his father’s sheep from lions and bears, but he was familiar with their use more than the armor King Saul gave him to defeat the giant. I learned and began to teach that TALENT is never far from you; in fact, it’s in our families. It’s generational – which is why we’re often so familiar with it that we overlook its usefulness or take it for granted.

My PURPOSE in life is to help others see the TALENT within themselves so they can apply it to the brokenness they hate (a.k.a. their PASSION) in order to unlock and unleash their GENIUS on the world! That, in fact, is THEIR PURPOSE: identify/apply their TALENT to their PURPOSE.

I am passionate about this because I hate it when people don’t know who or how important they are. I hate that the world conditions us to play small (due to the impact of its brokenness which creates our traumas). I hate when the world puts diminishing labels on people that deprives them of the ability to see who they’re meant to be. This PASSION I have is tackled by my TALENT as a wordsmith: someone who creates power with written and spoken words. As such, I created a book and workshop that I tour schools and companies with to share this message: Common Genius, Uncommon Destiny!

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Reginald Kee (d.b.a. Reggie Legend) has had his work featured on several online websites and forums for the latter part of a decade.

Seeking to increase his platform as a motivational speaker and workshop facilitator, Reggie began writing social commentary known as poetitorials: a combination of poems and editorials. These writings have gone on to spark dialogue in forums ranging from sites such as allhiphop.com to collegiate student newspapers and composition courses at Columbia College Chicago. The catalog of these writings can also be found on his website at www.inkwellspoken.com/.
He is the author of multiple self-published books. The first two being: Steel Waters VOLUME I: DUPLicate AuthentICITY, Defacing the Music: What Slips into the Grooves Once God Gets Removed. These two books form the foundation of the Knight Writers – an organization that fosters platforms for creative artists to model what it looks like to give a return to the Lord based on the God-given talents He’s bestowed to all. In order to provide a safe place to receive encouragement and opportunity to showcase said talents, Knight Writers partners with youth ministries for community evangelism engagement through events known as Open Mic Poetry Knights.

As a youth advocate and motivational speaker, Reggie tours local school districts motivating a variety of students with material geared towards specific needs. Reggie’s book, Common Genius, Uncommon Destiny is the basis of his latest workshop which unlocks the non-academic genius which exists in us all through the formula:
GENIUS = PASSION + TALENT + PURPOSETM

For young men who find it difficult to gain traction in school at the elementary and middle school level, Reggie created the Queen City Kings program to instill purpose and a sense of ownership in the one resource that makes us all rich: words. With the motto “Crowning Achievement One KING at a Time,” the students learn that they can influence their environment and determine how well they rule as kings by how well they manage the richness found in the power of words.

Reggie married his wife, Pastor-Teacher Quiana Kee, on August 21, 2004. Together, they have two children who are self-published authors, as well: Josiah Kee and Paige Turner. Reggie and Quiana were also featured columnists for The Chicago Defender and are co-founders of Manu Forti (pronounced man-you fort-ā) Ministries and Ink Well Spoken; which serve as the faith-based and marketplace initiatives for motivational speaking. To house their family’s growing catalog of books as well as service the needs of other would-be authors in the community, Reggie has also birthed a self-publishing company known as Water2WinePress Publishing House.

Reggie studied at the University of Delaware; receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering in 2000. He went on to earn a Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Leadership Management in 2006. Having spent over a decade of his career in the field of post-secondary education, he has honed his expertise and best practices in customer service to equip students and families with sound college preparatory skills and the ability to identify resources and effective strategies for financial planning.

Reggie delivered his initial sermon and was licensed into the ministry of the Kingdom of God on March 8th, 2015 at The Kingdom Advancement Center (KAC) of Elgin, IL under the leadership of Apostle Larry Henderson and Prophet Tiffany Henderson. He was later ordained at the KAC as an Elder in 2018 and ordained as an Evangelist of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 2021. Upon moving to South Carolina, the Kee family is actively expanding the imprint of the KAC by establishing Kingdom Keepers Ministries to raise up the divine identity (Sonship) of would-be disciples who have not been fully equipped through traditional wineskin churches; as identified through the demonstration, impartation, and development of spiritual gifts.

Reggie and Quiana’s philosophy for Manu Forti Ministries is:

“Speaking LIFE to Unlock the POWER of God in YOU” ™

Reggie’s impact is as follows:
Students and staff reached: 6031
Schools reached: 20
Student Enrichment Programs reached: 26
School districts reached: 12

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three qualities/skills/areas of knowledge that were most impactful on my journey were being a non-conformist, my faith in God, and humility.

Of these three, I’d like to focus on humility first because it’s often defined in half measures. Humility is not only about about not thinking too highly of yourself, but not thinking too lowly of yourself, either. Discounting oneself is just as harmful as over emphasizing oneself.

Faith in God allows me to put my belief in Someone greater than me when I don’t believe in myself. He endows us with the gift of faith through Holy Spirit which I see as Him giving us the belief HE has in HIMSELF! God does this so that when we face the impossible, insurmountable thing that pushes (down) our faith to its limit, God’s gift of faith affords as the vision to see things from HIS perspective and power to overcome any obstacle as the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not see (see Hebrews 11:1).

Lastly, being a non-conformist came from me finding power in being a castaway. When I wasn’t allowed to be in the in-crowd, it made me not want to follow said crowd. It made me embrace the power of forging ahead on my own path (or rather, to find the path God set me on). When I see everyone going in one direction, I never intuitively just jump on the bandwagon. If anything, I’m conditioned to automatically go the other way which helps me avoid the “groupthink” mentality.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am looking for school district administrators, executive directors of leadership development initiatives for youth, and HR heads who specialize in organizational professional development. Partnering with such people will afford me the opportunity to bring my book and workshop to the masses to improve and increase the quality of GENIUS leadership in the world!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Dreamsmith Media, Joel Smith (infographics)

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