NORTH CAROLINA  — A group of North Carolina farmers are re-writing the narrative around Black farmers working with cotton.

 

What You Need To Know

  • Black Cotton is a home decor company that makes centerpieces, jewelry, and accessories.

  • The founder says the goal is to bring wealth into the Black community by creating a culture around cotton.

  • Black cotton harvests in late fall.

 

Black Cotton, a home decor company, utilizes raw cotton to make centerpieces, jewelry, and accessories.

 



The founder Julius Tillery is a fifth-generation farmer and Chapel Hill graduate who inherited the land that belonged to his family for generations. He owns 50 acres of cotton.

“A lot of people associate the cotton business with slavery," says Tillery. "What I want to show people is you can make money in cotton and it's something we can be proud of, a product we can be around and something to be a part of.”

 

 



He and other Black farmers around the state work to educate and uplift rural minority communities and recontextualize southern crops and their painful history. Tillery says their goal is to bring wealth into the Black community by creating a culture around cotton.

Black Cotton harvests every late fall. For more information on the home decor business visit them online here.