In this episode of Compost, Cotton & Cornrows, Dominique Drakeford sits with Niya Brown Matthews, a self-taught, first-generation farmer and community educator. Niya reframes growing as a practice of awareness and responsibility. The garden becomes a living classroom, teaching us to observe patterns, respect timing and respond instead of control. Sustainability, she explains, is bigger than self. It is legacy, alignment, and community stewardship. When we strip away perfectionism and curated aesthetics, we are left with the essential question: why are we doing this, and can it last? Nature answers when we are present enough to listen.

Niya’s journey reflects range and resolve. She speaks of her pivot from a fast-paced corporate life in Atlanta filled with red bottoms, boardrooms and constant motion to building a farm space alongside her husband during the pandemic with the intention to heal, slow down and restore their relationship to food. That choice reshaped their health, clarified their purpose and deepened their responsibility to the community. Growing food is named for what it is: an urgent and necessary currency. One that builds resilience, restores health and strengthens community power. If we pay attention to the land, the body, and the climate, the future gives us aligned instruction.

Compost, Cotton & Cornrows: the space where Black & Afro-Indigenous Vanguards are redefining sustainability through storytelling!

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