Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina, the storm still rages in our collective memory, not just as a natural disaster, but as a state-sanctioned genocide against Black communities in New Orleans. In this powerful conversation, Dominique Drakeford sits down with DAWN RICHARD who is an eclectic singer/songwriter, culture bearer and New Orleans native, to unravel the deeper truths of what Katrina exposed: environmental racism, modern colonization and the ongoing erasure of ancestral knowledge.

Together, they discuss how sustainability is an inheritance carried through stories and rituals. It is community survival. From Cancer Alley to cultural preservation, from youth activism to intergenerational power, this episode refuses the sanitized narratives of climate disaster and demands that we center Black voices and the authentic lived experiences in the fight for environmental justice.

This is more than remembrance. It’s a call to action. A reminder that the stripping away of our stories is the stripping away of our power. And a declaration that sustainability, at its root, has always been ours.

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

@Compost_Cotton_Cornrows

In this vivid and electric episode of Compost, Cotton & Cornrows, Dominique Drakeford is joined by the incomparable Maya Penn — youth climate solutionist, award-winning animator, founder, and unapologetic disruptor shifting culture through creativity and care.

Maya opens up about the realities and responsibilities of being a youth activist at the forefront of climate justice — carving space in a movement that often tokenizes youth while demanding labor without systemic support. With nearly two decades of experience (yes, starting at age 8), Maya reflects on how her early curiosity became a catalyst for global advocacy — and why today’s youth activism must go beyond awareness to radically rebuild systems from the root.

They dive deep into the need to center climate justice — not as a trend, but as the core framework for collective liberation — reminding us that climate is not a siloed issue, it’s the multiplying force behind everything we care about.

Maya also shares her passion for animation as activism, lifting the veil on her groundbreaking film ASALI: Power of the Pollinators — a visually lush, emotionally charged environmental short she wrote, directed, and animated, featuring a powerhouse cast (Whoopi Goldberg, Viola Davis, and more). Through Upendo Productions, Maya is proving that art, especially from the margins, can shift the world.

Tune in for a journey into:
🌀 The growing pains and power of Gen Z climate leadership
🌺 ASALI: Power of the Pollinators and animation as climate education
🛑 How environmental injustice shows up community and conversation
📣 Why we must center climate justice — not just “climate change”
🖤 Storytelling, cultural preservation, and the spiritual nature of sustainability

This episode is a love letter to young visionaries — and a reminder that the revolution will be illustrated.

https://mayasideas.com/

https://www.asali.movie/

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

@Compost_Cotton_Cornrows

What happens when you infuse radical transparency, ancestral ingredients, and community-rooted ethics into the beauty game? You get HanaHana Beauty—and a founder like Abena Boamah-Acheampong who's shaking the table with intention. In this dynamic episode of Compost, Cotton & Cornrows, Dominique Drakeford dives deep with Abena to explore the spiritual, political, and deeply personal layers of building a brand that refuses to compromise.

From sourcing shea butter directly from cooperatives in Ghana and paying double the asking price, to redefining what it means to sustain—not just the earth, but the people behind the product—Abena doesn’t just talk the talk, she walks it with grace and grit. This isn’t your average clean beauty convo. It’s a powerful meditation on ethical sourcing, supply chain storytelling, and dismantling beauty industry norms with the audacity to be real.

They unpack:
✨ The sacred power of simplicity in Black body care
✨ Why marketing must reflect the diversity of Blackness
✨ The tension between financial growth and founder sustainability
✨ Healing through community, faith, and the beauty rituals of our elders
✨ Unlearning overconsumption and resisting the Amazonification of our needs

If you’ve ever felt the pull to align your beauty practice with your values—or you’re a founder striving to do business differently—this episode is your balm and your blueprint.

hanahanabeauty.com

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

@Compost_Cotton_Cornrows