How Roger Sterling Coleman shares the benefits of cannabis

Descended from a long line of farmers, Roger Sterling Coleman grew up on his family farm alongside horses, cows, chickens, pigs and some of the cutest goats named Little Bill, Chill Bill, Wild Bill and – my personal favorite – Aunt Becky on Bill. A true renaissance man, his main passion is in the cannabis and hemp fields, spreading the benefits of the plant.

Coleman is an actor, model, cannabis influencer, and farmer who splits his time between California and Alabama. He also has a craft business through which he has worked with numerous celebrities, from Kanye West to Jennifer Lopez.

“Both of my parents have had different types of cancer over the past 10 years and so have I [in LA] bringing them home different types of CBD and RSO and educating them about the products and the plant itself,” he said.

This inspired Coleman to convince his parents, a lawyer and a veteran, to grow hemp on their 70-acre farm so they could make some of those products themselves. “It was quite a process for them in the beginning, because our farm is in Alabama and Alabama is in the Bible Belt, it’s quite difficult to educate people [about the plant] in a different way than they were raised before.”

On the farm in Alabama

His parents, who were already members of the National Black Farmers Association, were able to attend a conference in Montgomery where Rohan Marley spoke about the possibilities of hemp and how it can benefit the community.

With the help of a childhood friend and his parents, Coleman’s family began growing industrial hemp in 2018. “We really just want to be able to champion the industrial side, but that requires over 100 acres of hemp,” he explained. “So last year we started growing CBD to give the community a tangible product and we’ve used that to make topicals and tinctures and really raise awareness.”

It’s also incredibly important to him that veterans in his community have access to quality organic hemp products to help manage pain, PTSD, and other ailments.

Of course, there is a lot of hard work going on at Culture Valley Farms. On a typical day in Alabama, Coleman wakes up at 6 a.m. and starts his day jogging on the old train tracks where his grandfather used to work. “I feel like it’s a rich place — I don’t get that in LA, so I always like to use that for my morning run,” he said. He then goes down to the barn to look for eggs in the chicken coop, lets the goats out and begins other chores for the day. “When it’s cannabis growing season, I go out and check on my babies, talk to them, play music to them. This morning light is the most magical time for her, I really like to see her wake up.”

Coleman then pays his respects at the family cemetery where many of his relatives are buried, including his uncle Sterling and uncle Roger, after whom he was named. His mother, now retired after 50 years of working for the federal government, cooks breakfast, lunch and dinner for her every day.

Then there are the evening chores, like rounding up all the animals for their big fodder.

A day in the life in California

A morning in LA looks a little different, but he finds the dichotomy between life in the two states intriguing. “It’s really the coolest thing, being a cannabis influencer, the ganja guru, in Los Angeles, but having my hands in the dirt and also making a real difference on the farm in Alabama,” said Coleman. Before he plunges into phone calls and emails for the day, he enjoys a cup of mullein stalk tea, a potent breath herb grown on the farm, mixed with weed stalks, which he keeps in a jar.

Once he leaves his home on Crenshaw Boulevard, Coleman is never a normal day in California. He may work as an actor or model, serve celebrities with his craft business, or attend industry events and get involved in the local cannabis community.

He recently collaborated on a project called Plant Therapy, in which people traded everything from Monstera plants to Blue Dream buds. The event brought like-minded people together and they were able to chat and learn about the spectrum of plants and the numerous benefits of terpenes and cannabinoids.

Coleman’s ultimate goal for Culture Valley Farms is to become a major source of hemp in the South and eventually the entire United States. “Right now we’re working with Alabama A&M University, a great agricultural university in Huntsville. We do a lot of research and development, we find the perfect seed that will grow in this space for our industrial goals.” Currently the farm produces two strains of hemp, one of which is destined for CBD products. They sell some products online, although they mostly distribute within their own community.

Luckily, his father laid much of the groundwork for their success as black farmers in Alabama. However, much of their equipment is not up to date and barriers to entry still exist. “I contact and tag as many tractor brands as I like the cannabis brands because we need John Deere sponsors. We need some Polaris sponsors,” said Coleman. He and his family have the MacGyver spirit, as Coleman describes it, which means they always get the job done even though they don’t necessarily have the right tools. Overcoming the lack of equal opportunity for black people in agriculture, securing capital and raising awareness on these issues is an ongoing challenge.

“Being able to get more people to know that there are black farmers in the South who are landowners who are young, hip and cool… I think that’s going to make it more real.” My dad doesn’t even have a cell phone, no Instagram, so people wouldn’t know he existed because he can’t share his location, his life, his movies,” he said. “But having access to moments like this gives us an opportunity to really reap the rewards of all the seeds he’s sown over the years.”

Photos courtesy of Culture Valley Farms