Singer & Activist Radmilla Cody Speaks About Her African American And Native American Heritage (2014 YouTube video & comments)

I Love Ancestry,

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Statistics as of March 21, 2021 (9:16 AM ET) 
total # of views- 23,586
total # of likes- 469
total # of dislikes- 24
total # of comments-142

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[Video Summary from I Love Ancestry] 

Singer and Activist Radmilla Cody, of Black & Native American heritage from the Navajo Nation accepts the Initiative Radio 2012 Black History Makers Award as "National Treasure & Icon of Cultural Unity" and speaks on her Black Native American Heritage. To Buy Her Music: http://www.canyonrecords.com/

"...To reaffirm the statement on the choosing of my identity, I come from two beautiful cultures which I have embraced, bridged, balanced, and identify with. I am proud to be who I am as a Dine' (Navajo) and Nahilii (African American) woman. Hozho', , & blessings..." ~Radmilla Cody

*We refer to people of African and Native American Indian heritage as Afro Native sometimes on this website. Many refer to people of both ancestry as Black Indians, African Native Americans or Black American Indians.

Inspiring Radmilla is the award winner of the Record of the Year for her song "Shi Keyah Songs for the People".

With an angelic voice of bluebirds singing, Radmilla Cody, traditional Navajo recording artist, Indie Award Winner and two-time Native American Award Nominee continues to maintain Navajo culture by recording music that the Diné elders can be proud of and that children sing with pride.

She is of the Tla'a'schi'i' (Red-Orche-on-Cheek) clan and is born for the African-Americans. Radmilla is the 46th Miss Navajo Nation from 1997-98. Born and raised in the beautiful and picturesque plateaus of the Navajo Nation, Radmilla Cody's childhood consisted of herding sheep on foot and horseback, carding and spinning wool, and searching late into the night with her grandmother for lost sheep and their lambs.

The highlight of her sheep herding days was standing in the sheep corral singing at the top of her lungs with the sheep and goats as her audience. "All that mattered at that time was the moment of living a dream," says Radmilla about her early life, which today has become a reality for the young musician. A survivor of domestic violence, Radmilla uses her personal experiences to advocate strongly against the epidemic of violence.

It is an issue she has become very passionate about. As a biracial person she attempts to communicate positive messages about her dual identity to biracial or multiracial children who still bear the brunt of prejudice.

Radmilla Cody is of the Tlaaschii (Red Bottom People) born for Nahillii (African American) and has traveled internationally to Kenya, South America, Japan, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, and Italy.

She has earned a BS in Public Relations from Northern Arizona University and is pursuing a MA in Sociology. She was the 46th Miss Navajo and is the subject of “Hearing Radmilla”, a documentary produced and directed by Angela Webb.

Radmilla is a domestic violence advocate and founder of “Strong Spirit…Life is Beautiful not Abusive” campaign which addresses teen dating violence. Her previous recordings for Canyon Records include Seed of Life, Spirit of a Woman and Precious Friends

"The Creator has given me the strength to look forward in life, to embrace the beautiful and the positive. Now I truly walk in beauty." ~Radmilla Cody

I Love Ancestry exists to empower people to seek knowledge of ancestral heritage, preserve historical truth, and unite like-minded people. At I Love Ancestry, we envision a world where people embrace their own and each other's roots, celebrate diversity, and advocate for indigenous cultures.

On Our Website: https://iloveancestry.com/stories/ancestry/ 

[This link replaces the one that was given in this summary. That link is no longer active.]

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube video of Radmilla Cody speaking about her African American and Native American heritage.

This post also includes some comments from this video's discussion thread.

The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Radmilla Cody for her music, her activism, and her role modeling. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to Iloveancestry.com for pubkLove the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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SELECTED COMMENTS 

These comments are given in relative chronological order based on their publishing date with the oldest comments given first except for relplies. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

Note: It's sometimes difficult to tell which comment is being responded to as some commenters changed their screen name and some comments may no longer be included in this discussion thread. Also, some comments appear to be in response to later [?] comments.

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybYz2IZWUfk&ab_channel=ILoveAncestry

1. Kal EL, 2016
"She's a Beautiful black woman"

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2. LoveMyCurls, 2016
"Kal EL she is not black she is a mixed NATIVE are you effin blind?!???👀👀🙄🙄"

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3. dante bigguy, 2018
"Tylona Hambrick Métis people of Canada makes them look like fools. And Métis people are mixed Natives with Europeans and some Métis even look white as snow too lol"

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4. Ambrosia Devyani, 2018
"Multiethnicgirl 6foot that's not the point. Point is she is Diné too.

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5. Titiana Bäb, 2020
"She is part Native American descent

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6. nomadic alma, 2020
" @donny peso goyard BPC  She's a mixed Navajo. There is no country called "black." It's a fake made up term. She also has African heritage but she was raised as a Diné woman."

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7. Silver SunTree, 2020
"Stating that she’s a beautiful black woman seems like a back-handed comment/compliment. She is both Navajo and Black."

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8. m. mann, 2016
"as an native-american, i hate the way many natives treat mixed natives.  we should respect and love all nstives as well as all people of the human race."

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9. dante bigguy, 2016
""you are not Black if you are born into the Tribe..you are Dine simple as that doesn't matter what Colour skin you have..Culture makes you who you are that's Native way not the colour of your skin..not gonna lie I got a kick out of hearing you speak in Dine because I understood some of it..."

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10. Tylona Hambrick, 2018
"Omg I’m so tired of the “ oh when the police pull you over you black “ blah blah blah  or the government "

Did you know that the government and official government forms have a box where it says “ more than one race “ did you not get the memo ???

mixed race people are being officially recognized now , it seems like you don’t want them to be .

Oh yeah , if the cops pull her over they would probably call her Hispanic and depending on where she lives Hispanics are considered white haaaaaa

I used to live in Florida and got pulled over by the cops on several occasions and my skin is obviously brown ( peanut butter cookie complexion ) and they classed me as white because they thought I was Mexican , when I corrected them ( with a reaction of shock mind you ) he told me

“ sorry mame , I wasn’t trying to offend you , it’s just that in the state of Florida Hispanics are classed as White “ I then had to tell him that I wasn’t Hispanic either and that I was mixed-race Half Black and Half white .

Cops are not going to call someone black unless they have all stereotypical Negro traits and it mainly the hair that would make them class you as black or not , if you’re brown and don’t have kinky hair they don’t see black they see Hispanic .

It seems you’re on this one drop kick , get over it .

Why are black people so butt hurt when a mixed-race person is seen as mixed instead of black or when that mixed person identifies as mixed/biracial instead of exclusively black. Mixed people are not black peoples property , we don’t owe it to black people to only or exclusively identify with you , just be happy that we’re acknowledging the black too when we identify as Biracial and move on ."

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11. donny peso goyard BPC, 2018
" @Tylona Hambrick  she don't need anyone permission she is black she already said that she's a black native did you guys read the title before you press play I said how all the other races hate us but that's fine we are going to continue to be living regardless don't say hi when you see us in the street"

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12. nomadic alma, 2020
" @donny peso goyard BPC  She's a mixed Navajo. There is no country called "black." It's a fake made up term. She also has African heritage but she was raised as a Diné woman."

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13. Me lolabean, 2019
"@dante bigguy  My grandmother is canadian born Chippewa ojibwe tribe and French descent we also say black too because we think she has black heritage as well but when she came to the U.S. of course she was Strip of her heritage that's why we don't know as far as her dad if he was black or not because in her times natives wasn't even introduce to blacks when she was in canada also when you came to the U.S. you were labeled as black no matter what race you were if you were dark toned your were automatically black I have hundreds of cousin still on the reservation in harrow Canada I was told though a lot of are people there are some Indians but a lot where colonized by the french so are blood relatives are different looking from just straight natives im glad to hear someone who knows about the Indians from Canada which the original come from.i also have Cherokee descent on my farther side which my grandmother  was half

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14. nomadic alma, 2020
"@esor val  Her skin isn't black, it's brown. She's a mixed Diné. I'll never understand why people insist on calling brown people black."

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15. nomadic alma, 2020
" @Tylona Hambrick  She is partially African. There is no country called "black". Most people called "African American" are already mixed with African European and sometimes Native American. I am Creole myself with Indigenous ancestry as well."

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16. Darlene Farmer, 2017
"Speak, Sister!  We are who we are!"

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17. Rhythms of The Sun, 2018
"Plot twist both races lived together way before slavery"

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18. dante bigguy, 2018
"allsports100 plot twist North America was already up and running with the help of indigenous people before blacks slaves came to America. Now how come you people never mention these things? Especially indigenous people of Canada. How come you people always leave us out of these conversations when talking about Indigenous people of North America? Seriously why?!? We have way more connections with real Natives of America because most of the Natives in America came from Canada. Now tell me again why you people never mention this?!? 635 First Nation Tribes in Canada and that’s not including Inuits and Metis(mixed Natives with Europeans)"

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19. Jeremy Rosa, 2018
" @dante bigguy  excatly much respect from your brother from the island of cuba and boriken . taiño tribe"

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20. Me lolabean, 2019
" @dante bigguy  Thank you my grandmother is of part ojibwe Chippewa and French and a bit of black descent which that's actually up in the air because Indians knew nothing of blacks in her time in Canada nor did they even migrate over there when she was there than when they came to the USA people don't understand how they were labeled as black because of skin tone but she is Canadian born native French and not sure but we say black descent but all of her/ our people are Canadian indians but a lot of the French colonized ojibwe as well."

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21. Thomas Oklahoma, 2017
"Radmilla Cody is a good role model for our Native Youth and carries her Native heritage with pride. She never forgets her Black American side too."

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22. dante bigguy, 2018
"you are not Black if you are born into the Tribe..you are Dine simple as that doesn't matter what Colour skin you have..Culture makes you who you are that's Native way not the colour of your skin..not gonna lie I got a kick out of hearing you speak in Dine because I understood some of it..."

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23. Pixie Dust, 2019
"My great grandma was half and half. Claim both sides girl! 👍🏽

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24. Prutiss Bartlow, 2020
"jimi h endrix hadnative and Irish blood.. as well as African (moor)..1/16cherokee.. look at Leon h 🎸endrix  his blood brutha.

Seattle's grandmother took him to the reservation at an early age explains why he played in concerts* moccasins LOL"

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