Library Hosts Viewing and Panel Discussion of My Nappy Roots

From left: Panelists Sika Alaine Dagbovie, Regina Kimbell (My Nappy Roots director) and Yolle-Guida Dervil join moderator Debra Nixon, Ph.D., NSU assistant professor, at the Florida film premiere of My Nappy Roots: A Journey through Black Hair-itage.	Panelists Sika Alaine Dagbovie (left) and Yolle-Guida Dervil respond to audience questions after the viewing of My Nappy Roots: A Journey through Black Hair-itage.

The Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center recently hosted the Florida film premiere and a discussion of My Nappy Roots: A Journey through Black Hair-itage.

My Nappy Roots is the award winning documentary on black hair featuring Kim Fields, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Vivica A. Fox.The film's director, Regina Kimbell, fans and a panel of experts connected on Feb. 7 during a community discussion on the historical, professional and personal accounts of the black hair journey.

The discussion panel included:

• Panel Moderator: Debra Nixon, Ph.D., NSU assistant professor
  Nixon is an assistant professor of marriage and family therapy at NSU, an author, and an international inspirational speaker. She has made it her life’s work to champion the causes of the misunderstood and marginalized. Nixon is the founder and creator of NSU’s campus inclusion initiative “Do Something Different” and the facilitator of the campus-wide monthly conversations: Diversity Dialogues.

• Panelist: Regina Kimbell, My Nappy Roots director
  Regi, as she's known in the film industry, is a visionary independent filmmaker who honed her Hollywood skills working as a cinematographer/camera operator on a broad range of film and television programs including the popular series Comic View on Black Entertainment Television (BET). Kimbell recently completed producing and directing a season of Turn it Around on the Inspirational Network and a pilot called Pillow Talk for another production company. She has been producing and directing a number of independent and private sector clients for more than 10 years.

• Panelist: Sika Alaine Dagbovie, Ph.D., FAU professor
  Dagbovie is an assistant professor of English at Florida Atlantic University, where she specializes in African American literature. Dagbovie is currently completing a book that examines representations of black/white mixed race identity in twentieth century literature and popular culture. Her essays have been published in African American Review, The Journal of Popular Culture, Mississippi Quarterly, and CLA Journal.

• Panelist: Yolle-Guida Dervil, NSU student
  Dervil, originally from Haiti, is a NSU student and works as a residential advisor on campus. She is also currently completing her last semester of the marriage and family therapy master's program. Her future goals include obtaining her Ph.D. and working with adolescents in the Haitian community to help them build their self-esteem, discover their strengths, and reach their goals.

The My Nappy Roots viewing and panel discussion was sponsored by the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center as part of the university’s 2009 Black History Month celebrations. For more information about NSU’s extensive offering of Black History Month events, please visit www.nova.edu/blackhistory.