News & Announcements
Melungeons Attend Gathering at Turkish Mission in New York
Brent Kennedy, still recovering from a severe stroke suffered in December 2005, joined a delegation from the Melungeon Heritage Association for a meeting of organized by the University of Istanbul Alumni Association-USA (ÝÜMEZUNUSA http://www.iumezusa.org ) at the United Nations Plaza on Saturday, 2 June 2007. 
Brent Kennedy (center, in wheelchair) with MHA delegates and University of Istanbul alumni in New York City.
Along with Kennedy, Melungeon delegates included MHA president S. J. Arthur, vice-president Wayne Winkler, and secretary Toney Kirk, along with Richard Kennedy (Brent's brother) and members of their band The Kennedy Brothers, who performed at the event.
ÝÜMEZUNUSA President Ali Çýnar delivered the opening speech and Professor Türker Özdoðan said Melungeons have attended several meetings in Washington as guests of Turkish associations, but never one on this scale.
Kennedy, author of The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People, theorized in 1994 that the Melungeons descended in part from Turks and others from the old Ottoman Empire. DNA results from several individual Melungeons indicate that at least some ancestors did, in fact, originate in or near present-day Turkey. Former Consul General of the U.S. in Istanbul, David Arnett, said that he discovered redently that not only did he share Melungeon heritage, but that DNA results indicated a large percentage of Turkish ancestry.
MHA vice-president Winkler said that while the Melungeons acknowledge ancestry from many sources, they are, for various reasons, not always acknowledged or accepted by those ancestors. "From the start, the Turkish people have welcomed us as brothers and sisters," Winkler said. "And the Melungeons will not forget it."
