Imani Black, founder of Minorities in Aquaculture (MIA), discusses the history—and the future—of Black watermen and demystifies the American aquaculture industry in this episode of Progressive Hedonist with Dana Cowin. Growing up on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Imani is drawn to work on the water, and along the way discovers her family’s own connection to the challenging local seafood industry. As she pursues her degree in Marine Biology and becomes an oyster farmer, Imani recognizes a need to encourage more women and people of color to join this environmentally sustainable work. In 2020, she launched MIA, a job training program and has single-handedly doubled the amount of African Americans working in the maritime industry. A self-proclaimed “seafood girly”, Imani also provides great recs on picking the best seafood and dishes on her favorite oysters.

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