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 24 | She’s Been Fighting for the Planet Since She Was 8 — Now Maya Penn’s Environmental Animated Short Is In Collaboration with Viola Davis & Whoopi Goldberg
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.
Compost, Cotton & Cornrows: the space where Black & Afro-Indigenous Vanguards are redefining sustainability through storytelling!
@Compost_Cotton_Cornrows