Melungeon Voices

MHA President Heather Andolina speaks with Jes Arnold, creator of the new Melungeon Roots website (melungeonroots.com), a Melungeon resource center and online community. Jes is an amateur genealogist and researcher, and a Melungeon descendant with deep roots in Eastern Kentucky. Through her project, Jes aims to support those seeking to learn more about their mixed ancestry heritage, foster a greater understanding of Melungeon history and identity, and uncover and retell the stories of lost ancestors.

In this episode, we also share our new 'We Are Melungeon' song! If you enjoy the song, you can download it here for free from our website and play it anytime!

Hosted by Heather Andolina, President of the Melungeon Heritage Association, Co-hosted by Brooke Gibbons, Presented by The Melungeon Heritage Association (melungeon.org)

Note: This episode was originally recorded as a live YouTube video. There were some technical issues with the audio, so this podcast begins when the audio starts (intro is missing).

Season 6 will focus on the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution and the contributions and significance of the Melungeon people and people of mixed ancestry to the American Revolution. The episodes will be dropped monthly instead of weekly, with more content in between episodes to learn more about each episode, and we will let you know the date and time of each new episode.

In this season’s finale episode, MHA Board President Heather Andolina welcomes YouTube creator Danielle Romero and discovers how she found out about her Melungeon and Redbone ancestry, how the two communities are similar, and what inspired her to start her own YouTube channel you’ll want to discover for yourself.

Danielle Romero is a YouTube creator and hosts the YouTube channel NYTN where she explores American identity and hidden history. She also delves into her multicultural heritage (both Melungeon and Redbone ancestry) through her documentary series "Finding Lola," uncovering the complex stories of her ancestors in Louisiana. Born in New York, she now lives in Tennessee with her family.

Guest contact information:

NYTN YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@nytn Social media handle: @ImFindingLola 

Hosted by Heather Andolina

Produced by Lis Malone (Lis Malone LLC)

Presented by the Melungeon Heritage Association

In this episode, Heather Andolina welcomes John King to discuss at-risk populations, specifically the poor, homeless, and mixed-ethnic and non-white communities in Appalachia and the Southeastern United States. John also introduces listeners to the conference, Class Con, and why he started the conference and what it's all about.

John King is an American Cultural Studies PhD candidate at Bowling Green State University and is a graduate of Berea College with a degree in Popular Culture. He studies at-risk populations with a particular focus on poor and homeless groups in the Southeastern United States. Most recently King was a contributing author for the Soulful Sounds of Derbytown, chronicling the history of black musicians and entertainers in Louisville, Kentucky.

John King / Class Con https://www.bgsu.edu/library/classcon.html will be March 14-15, 2025 at BGSU Jerome Library. It is free to present and attend, and will also be available on Zoom. Past presentations can be found in their digital archive: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/classcon/ 

If anyone would like to get updates on Class Con 2025, or to become a member, please email [email protected]

Additional information mentioned in the episode:

Frederick Murphy's new documentary "The Indelible Appalachians"

Social media @historybeforeus

Spcial thanks to Kathy Lyday, Vice President of the MHA

Hosted by Heather Andolina (MHA President)

Produced by Lis Malone (Lis Malone LLC)

Presented by the Melungeon Heritage Association

Nae Whitman joins Heather Andolina to talk about her journey in overcoming generational trauma, the resilience of the Melungeon people, her fierce support of the LGBTQIA community, and her future writing, and performing endeavors.

Nae Cole Whitman is a writer of essay, travel, fiction, and food, as well as a poet and bon vivant. She has written her first memoir called “Hag,” and is working on her second memoir which will be called, “Factory Girl.” 

She describes herself as a Melungeon descendant, newly-diagnosed-ADD Bodacious Broad Cisgender Woman and strong LGBT advocate. Someone with an obsession for diners, cool old lamps, belly dancing, road trips, and Tom Jones. She adores brunches which turn into dinners, prefers barefoot picnics to fine dining, and believes biscuits with honey to be a cure-all.

Nae is also a DJ and a performer with a one woman show also called, “Factory Girl.” 

Nae Cole Whitman contact info:

www.linktr.ee/houseofnae 

Social media @houseofnae 

Find "Hag" on Amazon

Additional links mentioned in this episode:

Kiran Singh Sirah

www.kiransinghsirah.net 

Social media @kiransinghsirah

Hosted by Heather Andolina (MHA President)

Produced by Lis Malone (Lis Malone LLC)

Presented by the Melungeon Heritage Association

Heather Andolina welcomes Dr. Kimberly Cheek to examine the Tribal connections to the Underground Railroad in North Carolina and Virginia, how maroon and Melungeon communities helped and supported African Americans with Freedom-Seeking, and delve a little into Dr. Kimberly Cheek’s own mixed ethnic ancestry.

Dr. Kimberly M Cheek is an Adjunct Lecturer at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and has over twelve years of experience teaching undergraduate students. She also has grant writing experience and has served on three grant committees.

Dr. Cheek's historical areas of focus include Race and Empire, Transnational black politics and radicalism, as well as U.S. Foreign policy during the Cold War. Her teaching areas are Global History, Ancient History, United States History, African American History, and Modern European History.
Dr. Cheek's research interests are 19th century African American intellectuals, late 19th and early 20th century European imperialist activity in West Africa and Central Africa, African and African American anti-colonial and liberation movements, African American global civil rights activism during World War II and the period of European colonialism in Asia and Africa, the early period of the Cold War, as well as the African American Press during World War II and the Cold War.

For more information on Dr. Kimberly M Cheek visit www.ncat.edu

Visit the new MHA online store and order your merchandise today! https://melungeon.org/shop/

Hosted by Heather Andolina (MHA Board President)

Produced by Lis Malone (Lis Malone Media)

Presented by the Melungeon Heritage Association

To learn more visit www.melungeon.org

The information and opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the MHA.

In this episode's discussion, Heather Andolina invites Chief Deanna Wood-Priddy to sharing her discovery of her Melungeon heritage, what inspired her to write a book about her life story, and how she became Chief of a Tribal nation.

Chief Deanna Wood-Priddy is the mother of two beautiful daughters, and has been married twelve years to her childhood sweetheart. She is an author, singer, songwriter, minister, Chief, mother and wife, and Banana Dee to her grandchildren. She is the author of the book, “Unraveled and Made Whole Again,” and is working on making her book into a movie. Chief Deanna, is a regional Chief of the Tsalagiyi Ngvadi Texas Cherokee Tribal Nation.

Links from this episode:

Chief Deanna Wood-Priddy

Facebook: ⁠www.facebook.com/deanna.priddy⁠ 

To purchase her book "Unraveled And Made Whole Again":

Amazon: ⁠Amazon.com: Unraveled - And Made Whole Again: 9781647737504: Priddy, Deanna Wood: Books⁠

Frederick Murphy

Website: www.historybeforeus.com

Social Media Handle: @historybeforeus

Kimberly Knight

Website:  www.theluxblognc.com

Social Media Handle: @blackindiansnc

Beverly Scarlett

Website: www.indigenous-memories.com 

Social Media Handle: @indigenousmemories

Ramona Moore Big Eagle

Website: www.ramonamoorebigeagle.com 

LaTonya Beatty

Website: www.Saponigirl76.blogspot.com 

Hosted by Heather Andolina (MHA Board President)

Produced by Lis Malone (Lis Malone LLC)

Presented by The Melungeon Heritage Association

To learn more visit www.melungeon.org

The information, views and opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the MHA.

In this episode Heather Andolina (MHA Board President) talks to organizers Simone El Bey, Joanna Henry, and Brooke Gibbons about an all new exhibit called “Generations: An Indigenous Exhibit,” a collaboration exhibit with The Cain Center for the Arts, the Melungeon Heritage Association, the Catawba Cultural Center, and others, in bringing this unique exhibit to the public from November 12th, 2024 through January 11th, 2025.

For information visit www.cainarts.org or follow their social media accounts using the handle @caincenterforthearts to learn more.

SIMONE EL BEY serves as the Visual Arts and Education Director at Cain Center for the Arts in Cornelius, North Carolina. As part of her role, Simone curates two gallery spaces, oversees a multitude of adult and youth education programs, and leads the center’s community impact initiatives.  

JOANNA HENRY is an ArtPop Street Gallery alum and the Artist Development Specialist for the Catawba Indian Nation. Her work analyzes Afro Caribbean and African American culture, its connections, and the positioning of a black woman as the author, reclaiming the narrative through her compositions in the process.

Visit www.jhenrystudios.com⁠ and ⁠www.catawbaculture.org⁠ or follow her on social media under @jhenrystudio and @catawbaculture handles.

BROOKE GIBBONS is currently the Director of Impact and Sustainability at ArtPop Street Gallery and serves as an advisor for The Organization for the Democratization of the Visual Arts, a Berlin-based group, working on the framework for the Certification of Equality and Diversity for Art Institutions.

Follow her on social media @brookeisfarout to learn more.

Hosted by: Heather Andolina (MHA Board President)

Produced by: Lis Malone (Lis Malone Media)

Presented by: The Melungeon Heritage Association

For more information visit them on the web at www.melungeon.org

For the Season 5 debut episode, Heather Andolina (MHA Board President) is joined by Lindsay Kolasa and Phyllis Light to discuss Southern and Appalachian folk medicine, what Southern and Appalachian folk medicine is, its origins, and the connections to the Melungeon people. 

Phyllis D. Light is a fourth-generation herbalist and healer and has studied and worked with herbs, foods, and other healing techniques for over 30 years. Her studies in Traditional Southern Folk Medicine began in the deep woods of North Alabama with lessons from her grandmother, who’s herbal and healing knowledge had its roots in her Creek/Cherokee heritage. She has a master’s degree from the University of Alabama in Health Studies, and has experience in both clinical and private settings including working in integrative medical clinics in Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama. In addition to herbalism and nutrition. Currently, she is the director of the Appalachian Center for Natural Health and continues to maintain an active private practice and consults with clients and offers health educational classes for businesses. Phyllis is also the author of “Southern Folk Medicine, Healing Traditions from Appalachian Fields and Forests".

Lindsay Kolasa is an Herbalist and Social Services worker, and due to a health crisis that began in 2001, has followed a long and winding path of healing, breakthroughs, and insights. She has dealt with trauma and recovery, the microbiome, trans-generational trauma, biodiversity, and tending the fractures in various forms of modern relationships. This journey has taken her to places such as the mountains of Western North Carolina, to the Pontic Steppe of Ukraine, to the coast-lands of California, and to the red clay hills of Eastern Mississippi. With 10 years of social service work and another 10 plus years of working with clients through her Herbalism practice, Lindsay has assisted a number of people in revealing deep and lasting shifts in their lives. She describes her work is trauma-informed and soul-based, utilizing tools such as narrative medicine and compassionate inquiry, creating a container of presence, curiosity, and insight in her practice. 

For more information on our guests use the links below:

 Lindsay Kolasa

Website: www.lindsaykolasa.com

Facebook Page @Lindsay Kolasa

Phyllis D. Light

Website: www.phyllisdlight.com

Link to Purchase Books: Books on Herbal Healing by Phyllis D Light – Phyllis D. Light

Hosted by Heather Andolina

Produced by Lis Malone (Lis Malone Media)

Presented by the Melungeon Heritage Association

For more information please visit www.melungeon,org.

* The information contained in the episode is not intended to be medical advice. Please consult your physician, medical professional, or herbal expert before trying any natural or herbal remedies, supplements, or treatments on your own.

The information, opinions, or expressions provided do not necessarily represent those of the Melungeon Heritage Association.

Dr. Jose Pimienta-Bey is a tenured Associate Professor of African & African American Studies and General Studies at Berea College in Kentucky for the past fifteen years. Pimienta-Bey's primary research interests include Moorish History, “Black”/African Psychology, Comparative Religious Studies, and African American Social and Political Thought.

He is the author of numerous publications, including Othello’s Children in the “New World”: Moorish History and Identity in the African American Experience (2002) and “Laboring Within the Mind Fields of Global White Supremacy” which appears in The Osiris Papers: Reflections on the Life and Writings of Dr. Frances Cress Welsing (2019) edited by Raymond A. Winbush and Denise L. Wright.

In this season's final episode, Heather and Dr. Pimienta-Bey explore the legal and cultural relevance of Melungeons and Moor identities within U. S. History.

The Melungeon Voices Podcast is presented by the Melungeon Heritage Association (MHA), hosted by Heather Andolina (MHA Board President), and produced by Lis Malone (Lis Malone LLC).

Scott Withrow is an author, editor, history teacher, as well as a park ranger for the National Park Service. Scott was President of the Melungeon Heritage Association for five years and is the current President Emeritus of the Melungeon Heritage Association. Scott is the editor, as well as an author, of one of the essays in the book, “Carolina Genesis,” which is a compilation of essays about mixed-heritage people, and available on Amazon (link below).

In this episode, Heather Andolina and Scott discuss the founding of the Melungeon Heritage Association, and the ambiguity of mixed heritage and racial identity.

Links referenced in this episode:

Carolina Genesis, available on Amazon here:

https://a.co/d/0hcN0b1

William Isom & the Black-in-Appalachia Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/black-in-appalachia/id1524089550 

Melungeon Voices Podcast is presented by the Melungeon Heritage Association (MHA), hosted by Heather Andolina (MHA Board President), and produced by Lis Malone (Lis Malone LLC).