Tillery, Julius
b. c. 1986 · Contribution: 2016
Fifth-generation cotton farmer and founder of Black Cotton (2016), which markets Black-grown cotton as home decor and accessories while advocating for Black farmers and land retention
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
A fifth-generation farmer in North Carolina's Roanoke Valley, Tillery founded Black Cotton in 2016 to reframe cotton — long associated with slavery and sharecropping — as a source of Black pride and profit, selling wreaths, arrangements, boutonnieres, and accessories directly to consumers under the tagline 'Cotton is our culture.' He serves as North Carolina State Coordinator for the Black Family Land Trust and on the state Forestry Advisory Council and the Southern SARE Administrative Council, working to preserve Black land ownership and expand market access for small and historically underserved farmers.
Life & background
A native of Rich Square in Northampton County, North Carolina, and a 2008 economics graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tillery farms land his family has worked since his great-great-grandfather, Rev. D.L. Tillery, acquired it after emancipation. He teaches modern agriculture at Roanoke-Chowan Community College and received the William C. Friday Award from NC State University's Park Scholars in 2021.
Sources
- North Carolina Department of Agriculture; Our State (magazine); North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
More in Agriculture & Food
Albius, Edmond
1829-1880
Invented the hand-pollination technique for vanilla orchids at age 12, the method still used to produce roughly 80% of the world's vanilla today
Allen, Will
1949-present
Founded Growing Power in 1995, pioneering low-cost urban aquaponics, vermiculture, and composting techniques that turned Milwaukee's last surviving city farm into a model replicated by urban agriculture programs nationwide
Bailey, Mashama
1979-
Executive chef and partner of The Grey, a celebrated Savannah restaurant built inside a formerly segregated Greyhound bus terminal; first African American chef to star in Netflix's 'Chef's Table'; two-time James Beard Award winner including the organization's top Outstanding Chef honor
Blair, Henry
1807-1860
Seed planter and cotton planter