Professor Naykishia Darby

Poet, literary scholar, Mississippi native, Jackson State University grad, and Central

State University English Professor Naykishia Darby  is an advocate for diversity and

equity and focuses her research interests on the LGBTQ Student experience at

the Historically Black College and/or University (HBCU), Performance and the Black

Woman exotic dancer, Black Women’s literature, and gender identity/expression in

Black Women performing artists. With her scholarly and creative pursuits, she has

served as panelist, presenter, and moderator at several academic and social

conferences and published scholarly and creative works in journals and book(s). Darby

has created Thee Cardigan Professor, which started officially in February 2023 paying

homage to the late, great Maya Angelou and is designed to share the biographical

information and selections written by her favorite authors and interviews with published

poets such as david matthews and Nathan Lipps, with an audience who may never

have had the chance to be introduced to these writers. The title of the program is a

combination of the mantra of Darby’s alma mater, “Thee I Love,” her love of cardigans,

and her profession and airs on the university’s radio station, WCSFM.org Jazzy 88.9.

She published her first solo work, Reflective Expressions: Selected Poems. Naykishia is

a member of AAUW-BG, where she served as the former president of the branch, and a

member of AAUW-OH, where serves as a member of the Executive Board.

When she is not in the classroom or handling the business side of her company,

Consult Write Now, LLC, she enjoys watching her Detroit Lions, Atlanta Braves, and

Boston Celtics, along with all things HGTV and Food Network, painting, and pursuing

other creative ventures.

She is mommy to Darby Charlene and Laila Amiri and loves God, her Family, and JSU!