Julius Tillery aka the "Puff Daddy Of Cotton" on the need to remix both the perception of the cotton industry and the business model

<p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">In episode 311, Kestrel welcomes Julius Tillery, founder of BlackCotton, to the show. <strong><em> </em></strong>A 5th-generation cotton farmer from North Carolina, Julius founded <a href="https://www.blackcotton.us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BlackCotton</a> to help center and uplift the Black community closest to the cotton fields in Northampton County, North Carolina.</p> <p><strong>“There’s so many demons and like bad spirits and bad tropes around cotton and the industry in general, and you know, just coming from the South, and people having these perspectives of cotton production relating to slavery — I felt like people was making these notions about cotton and not really knowing anything about cotton. And I wanted to start educating people about the cotton business, and even myself and how people like myself — how we end up in cotton. Families that work in cotton like, what was their value-in working in this type of production? And I wanted to change that outlook to make it look more stronger and prestigious than what was assumed.” -Julius</strong></p> <p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">About 6 episodes back, we had a chat with the brilliant leader and self-proclaimed solutionist <a href= "https://consciouschatter.com/podcast/2023/9/19-episode-306-tameka-peoples-seed-2-shirt-rebuilding-cotton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tameka Peoples of Seed2Shirt</a>. This episode was deeply focused on the work Tameka is doing to rebuild equitable and just cotton systems & foster the reclamation of cotton acreage for Black farmers.</p> <p class="">It’s a really important show that helps provide some of the historical context around cotton in the United States, as well as ways that Tameka and her team are working to reimagine new systems for cotton.</p> <p class="">When guests lead to new guests, I like to acknowledge that because it’s a beautiful thing. So, thanks to Tameka and our interactions, I was led to this week’s guest – Julius Tillery.</p> <p class="">This week’s guest wa