Garysburg, North Carolina
Words & photos by Ivan McClellan
“Cotton is the new rose.” That’s how Black Cotton founder Julius Tillery describes his product. Known as the Jay-Z of cotton, Julius is remixing the industry. He is a fifth-generation farmer taking this tradition passed down from his great-great-grandfather Reverend DL Tillery and elevating it with innovative home decor, art, jewelry, and social media savvy. Julius works the 125-acre family farm in rural North Carolina with his father, James, growing soybeans, peanuts, and cotton. Julius aims to change narratives about cotton as a poor man’s crop strongly associated with slavery. “Cotton is our culture. Most places where cotton is grown are impoverished, so we’re turning it into something valuable.”
Together they have ambitions to expand their business beyond home decor to create cotton textiles and provide fabric to fashion brands. One key to this is to get a cotton gin up and running. “There’s an intimate relationship with a farmer and a cotton gin. It’s the first place you go after the cotton is picked. It will allow us to have our cotton products produced outside of a co-op and sell to whoever we want.” This independence is essential to Julius. He wants to ensure that brands that profit from their cotton contribute to the community. The vision for Julius is to spin cotton into gold and to elevate all those around him. He hopes that one day his 5-month-old son will continue the family legacy and keep it running.
As dusk rolls into the arena the atmosphere changes from light and cordial to intense as the riders saddle up and prepare for competition. The crowd slowly trickles in and the bugs take their position around the stadium lights. There is a dress code requiring a cowboy hat, pressed button-down shirt, jeans, and boots for anyone participating in the event. Even in the oppressive heat, there was a lone rider who came in wearing a tank top and no hat. He was a last-minute replacement on his team, but the crowd and the announcer gave him no mercy –” looks like somebody forgot he had a race today”–the crowd chucked as the rider looked embarrassed and uncomfortable.
