Toni Morrison once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” This is a timeless quote that can apply to so many aspects of life. Colah Tawkin, self-proclaimed Plantrepreneur and host of the Black in the Garden podcast, embodied Morrison’s words as an advocate for diversifying the plant and gardening industry.

Growing up, Tawkin was not very engaged with nature. It wasn’t until adulthood that she began thinking more intentionally about her relationship to the natural world. That relationship became deeply intertwined with her overall lifestyle.

“Making the decision to go natural and say, ‘Ok, well, I wanna be more intentional about not putting so many chemicals on my hair’ . . . having an unfavorable child birthing experience and deciding if I have another child, I wanna have a natural birth and then having a natural birth and deciding I want to have everything be natural. . . I eventually got to the point where I said, ‘I don’t want to have chemicals in my food . . . Can I grow my own food?’”

Tawkin’s shift to a more natural lifestyle coincided with her growing obsession with houseplants. As she began to seek out more information about caring for plants and being outdoors, Tawkin quickly began to notice the lack of Black representation. Even the most subtle signs cued her into just how insidious the problem was.

“When I was shopping for gardening decor, I was looking to create an ethnic vibe in my garden, all I found in the aisles were white garden gnomes and fairies. . . I didn’t relate to that, that didn’t reflect my culture at all. And that’s when I recognized that if this is what we get in the actual retail store, then what does this say about the industry at large? And I’m a disruptor. So, I knew that I would be disruptive by getting [into the industry] and making my voice heard.”

One way Tawkin sought to make her voice heard was by starting her podcast, Black in the Garden, to center the experiences of Black plant keepers and to discuss the intersection of Black culture and horticulture. While Tawkin describes herself as a talker, she is undoubtedly a person who puts her words into action. Channeling inspiration from the stories of notable figures like Nobel Peace Prize winning Environmental Activist Wangari Maathai, Tawkin founded her non-profit, Underground Arborist. Its mission is to plant at least one native tree in every state while also raising awareness about environmental issues facing Black communities.

“I’m getting inspired and I’m thinking if I could plant a tree in every state, what kind of impact would that make? How could that inspire other people of color, especially young people, to feel like they can make a difference in their community? Not saying they should go and do what I did. The point of it is to inspire and encourage and motivate.”

Tawkin’s work goes beyond a fight for equity and inclusion, it is at its core about Black joy and liberation. It was plants that became her solace during several difficult periods of her life, including experiencing housing instability just as the pandemic began to rear its ugly head. Tawkin believes that her experience reflects the power of what plants can do on a larger scale for our community.

“That heaviness of having the emotional weight on you as a result of being Black in America, if those plants can help to alleviate some of that enough to help someone like me or someone who is actively fighting [for equality] and trying to empower other people to do the same . . . that makes them a tool that we can use in the revolution that may not have otherwise been considered.”