Compost, Cotton & Cornrows
Compost, Cotton & Cornrows is a podcast centering Black sustainability leaders across fashion, agriculture, wellbeing and beyond. Through storytelling, culture, and climate conversations, the show explores how ancestral wisdom and modern practices can cultivate regenerative futures. Hosted by Dominique Drakeford, each episode unearths powerful insights that shift the narrative of environmental justice.
Compost, Cotton & Cornrows
Episode 19 | A Must-Watch: Frida Lidbom’s Powerful Doc Exposes the Toxic Truth of Waste Colonialism—While Honoring the Radical Brilliance of Ghana’s Secondhand Artisans
***Since this recording, the Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana—the heart of the documentary’s focus—has tragically burned down. In the wake of this devastation, the local community, in partnership with dedicated organizations, is actively working to rebuild and restore this vital cultural and economic hub. ****
What if your donated trousers did more harm than good?
In this compelling episode of Compost, Cotton & Cornrows, host Dominique Drakeford sits down with Norwegian and Ghanian sustainable fashion advocate and filmmaker Frida Lidbom to dismantle the myth of the “charitable” secondhand clothing industry. Through the lens of her groundbreaking documentary Threads of Resilience, Frida exposes waste colonialism—where discarded Western goods flood Global South communities, not just with fabric, but with entire cultural systems of consumerism and economic dependency.
Together, they unpack the deep colonial roots of textile waste, the erasure of traditional crafts, and the ways Western narratives often rob local communities of their agency, brilliance, and innovation. From local upcycling innovators, to the 30,000 workers powering Accra’s secondhand markets, this conversation re-centers the resilience and knowledge of the very communities most impacted.
Whether you're in fashion, philanthropy, or just questioning your next thrift haul, this episode is a mirror, a magnifying glass, and a movement.
Key Takeaways:
- Sustainability means reconnecting with nature and ancestral knowledge
- Waste colonialism extends far beyond fashion
- Traditional artisans are cultural vanguards, not relics
- Secondhand markets affect whole economies, not just wardrobes
- Resilience lives in the Global South—fund it, don’t fetishize it
Tune in for an unflinching critique of fashion’s global power imbalances—and a call to action to uplift local brilliance, rethink “donation,” and support ethical, community-rooted fashion movements.
Threads of Resilience documentary
Compost, Cotton & Cornrows: the space where Black & Afro-Indigenous Vanguards are redefining sustainability through storytelling!
@Compost_Cotton_Cornrows