Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida Judge Mikaela Nix-Walker will swap her judicial robes for the garb of a cowgirl this weekend at The Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center’s third annual Cowboys/Cowgirls Extravaganza.
Nix-Walker and her father, John Nix, a rancher in Rochelle and president of the North Central Florida Black Farmers Association, are among the featured speakers at the kickoff event on Friday.
“I was talking about this with some people, and it turns out, who am I talking to but John Nix, whose family has been ranching since his grandfather started in Rochelle, just outside Gainesville, said Cotton Club Board member and event co-chair Barbara McDade Gordon.
Gordon said she started pushing for the idea of an event focused on blacks because of her love of rodeos as a girl growing up in Texas.
Nix-Walker will talk about her youthful experiences as a cowgirl in rodeo competitions and will be joined by her sister, Ronnica Dix, an Alachua County School District teacher.
Also, on the agenda for Friday night will be the screening of a new documentary by University of Florida Assistant Professor Antoine Haywood that looks at two aspects of cowboy life.
Haywood, who is with the College of Journalism and Communications, focuses on Keilyn Fuller, a young rancher and UF student, and Tayelen Seabrook, a rising professional rodeo star.
In some ways, the documentary is all in the family, as Fuller is the grandson of John Nix and the son of Nix’s daughter, Ronnica.
The two-day event includes a look at the history of Black Cowboys in Florida, tracing it back to the 1500s in Africa and the Americas. Both free and enslaved people came to the Americas to use their skills tending cattle and other livestock, Gordon said.
Line dancing led by Gainesville’s Smooth Flava Dancers, live music by Scot “Free” Smith, free horse rides, and horse care demonstrations will be featured on Saturday. Vendors will also be on hand selling crafts, jewelry, and food.
The two-day event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is requested at the Cotton Club website.
