Compost, Cotton & Cornrows

Episode 47 | Protecting Future Generations Starts Now | Victoria Elizabeth Whalen centering the power of Self Discovery, Equitable Land Use and Lived Experience Data

In this deeply expansive episode of Compost, Cotton & Cornrows, Dominique sits down with environmental justice legal strategist Victoria Elizabeth Whalen for a conversation rooted in land, memory, climate justice and the fight for future generations. From growing up Black in sacrifice zones across the American South to discovering how redlining, pollution and systemic racism shaped her lifelong battle with asthma, Victoria shares a powerful personal journey that illuminates the inseparable connections between race, place and environmental harm. Together, they unpack how extractive systems continue to disconnect communities from land while also exploring the urgent need for joy, thriving futures and collective healing beyond survival. As Project Manager for the Future Generations Tribunal and People’s Climate Diplomacy Program, Victoria also offers a profound look into the power of youth-centered climate advocacy, community testimony and grassroots storytelling across global climate spaces. From East Africa to the American South, this episode explores how frontline communities are building living archives of evidence, reclaiming narrative power and demanding justice through intergenerational solidarity. Dominique and Victoria dive deep into Indigenous knowledge systems, community-led research, reparations, trauma-informed organizing and what it truly means to create ethical, sacred spaces for vulnerable communities to speak their truth. This conversation is a moving reminder that climate justice is about protecting culture, honoring lived experiences and ensuring future generations have the right to thrive.  Compost, Cotton & Cornrows: the space where Black & Afro-Indigenous Vanguards are redefining sustainability through storytelling! @Compost_Cotton_Cornrows

Episode 46 | Black Fathers Get Postpartum Depression Too | Kalvin Bridgewater on Building Daddy Stroller Social Club For Vulnerability, Healing & Community

How are Black fathers navigating their own postpartum depression in a world that rarely gives them space to feel? In this deeply moving episode of Compost, Cotton & Cornrows, Dominique sits down with Dallas-based advocate, father and founder of Daddy Stroller Social Club, Kalvin Bridgewater, for an honest conversation about Black fatherhood, emotional wellness and redefining masculinity through care. From becoming certified as a doula to support his wife during a home birth, to navigating postpartum depression as a new father, Kalvin opens up about grief, vulnerability, generational healing and the urgent need for safe spaces where men can tell the truth about what they’re carrying. Together, they explore how intentional community can become pathways toward collective healing. Kalvin shares how Daddy Stroller Social Club is helping fathers build deeper relationships with themselves, their children and their partners through honest dialogue, journaling, movement, outdoor experiences and mutual support. From touching leaves during moments of overwhelm to watching fathers openly express love, this episode is a powerful reflection on what happens when Black men are creating their own spaces to show up fully for their families and themselves. https://daddystrollersocialclub.com/ [https://daddystrollersocialclub.com/] Compost, Cotton & Cornrows: the space where Black & Afro-Indigenous Vanguards are redefining sustainability through storytelling! @Compost_Cotton_Cornrows

Episode 45 | We Don’t Need To Make New Jewelry | London-Based Founder Tammuz Davis on Vintage Luxury, Adornment & Overcoming Anxiety

What does it mean to build an independent luxury brand rooted in restoration instead of extraction? This week on Compost, Cotton & Cornrows, Dominique Drakeford sits down with Tammuz Davis, founder of COVE -  a London-based vintage jewelry brand transforming forgotten archival pieces into modern statements of individuality, sustainability and cultural memory. Together, they unpack the environmental cost of overproduction, the emotional and cultural significance of jewelry in Black communities and why slowing down may be one of the most radical acts of resistance in today’s hyper-consumer culture. From growing up wearing hand-me-downs to building a brand backed by integrity instead of endless growth, Tammuz shares an honest reflection on anxiety, entrepreneurship, rejection and choosing purpose over capitalism’s obsession with scale. This conversation moves beyond fashion trends and into deeper questions around identity, value, aspiration and what it really means to consume consciously in a world drowning in excess. Compost, Cotton & Cornrows: the space where Black & Afro-Indigenous Vanguards are redefining sustainability through storytelling! @Compost_Cotton_Cornrows

Episode 44 | World-Renowned Climate Expert Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd Breaks Down Resiliency, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, Community Co-Creation and the "Kitchen Table" Realities of Climate Change

In this expansive and grounding episode of Compost, Cotton & Cornrows, Dominique Drakeford sits in powerful conversation with Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd, a globally recognized climate scientist, former president of the American Meteorological Society, and one of the most trusted voices translating atmospheric science into everyday life. From his early days at NASA to advising national and global leaders, Dr. Shepherd brings both rigor and realness by breaking down climate change not as an abstract future crisis, but as a present-day force shaping everything from grocery bills to public health. With clarity and urgency, he reframes sustainability through the lens of resilience. He understands how wealth gaps define who survives and who is left vulnerable in a rapidly shifting climate. Together, they move beyond surface-level solutions and into the systems that actually shape our realities, naming the deep inequities driving climate vulnerability while refusing to stay in despair. Dr. Shepherd introduces his “kitchen table” framework, connecting extreme weather to daily life, and offers a blueprint for meaningful engagement rooted in policy, community co-creation and trust-building. From urban heat islands shaped by redlining to the rise of compound disasters, this conversation bridges science, culture and lived experience. As Dr. Shepherd makes clear, we don’t have another planet to figure this out on. And so the work ahead demands both accountability and collective action, grounded in truth and designed for survival. Compost, Cotton & Cornrows: the space where Black & Afro-Indigenous Vanguards are redefining sustainability through storytelling! @Compost_Cotton_Cornrows

Episode 43 | No Flowers, No Food | Dee Hall Goodwin on Teaching Climate Through Flowers, Building Black Flower Farmers & Beautifully Disrupting an Aesthetic Industry

In this episode of Compost, Cotton & Cornrows, Dominique Drakeford is in a rich and grounding conversation with floral designer, horticulturalist  and agricultural leader Dee Hall Goodwin. She is the founder of Mermaid City Flowers and the global network Black Flower Farmers. Living in Norfolk, Virginia, with roots in Brooklyn and St. Lucia, Dee invites us into a world where flowers are portals into climate awareness, cultural memory and regenerative possibility. From transforming her front lawn into a micro flower farm to source wedding flowers to rejecting the extractive global flower industry, Dee redefines what it means to live sustainably with softness and power. Together, they explore the intersections of Black land stewardship, coastal climate realities and the radical act of growing what you need, from basil in your bouquet or community across continents. Dee shares how flowers become a “medium, not the message,” offering an accessible entry point into deeper environmental truths, while honoring ancestral practices that have always existed beyond the language of “sustainability.” As a Black floral farmer, this episode is a reminder that the practice is expansive. https://www.mermaidcityflowers.com/ [https://www.mermaidcityflowers.com/] Compost, Cotton & Cornrows: the space where Black & Afro-Indigenous Vanguards are redefining sustainability through storytelling! @Compost_Cotton_Cornrows