FARMING WHILE BLACK IN AMERICA
Isaiah Powell and Faheem Carter
How did the vision for the organic farm begin to form itself for you?
I: I volunteered with a state politician and as a volunteer for the NAACP in Harlem and knew that volunteering was a wonderful way to engage the community. Moving forward, we have to be more active in the community and there was a point when I came out here where we lived and saw a community garden across from where we lived. It was mostly Cantonese speaking seniors. I drove right in where they had a food bank where we would feed over 180 families in Bayview. Most of these families were black and it has the highest level of poverty in San Francisco where most of the Black men are incarcerated. There’s history here and after WWII this was an incredibly industrial area where that legacy and pollution is still here. Anyhow, after volunteering I felt inspired by the seniors working there and I began taking more roles in beautifying and rehab of the native wildlife there. Adjacent to this community garden was an overgrown lot, so both of us always wanting to farm land for the community got in touch with the city. After Covid-19 I went to a funeral and with other people getting shot someone mentioned dedicating a row of the garden to George Floyd.
F: I wanted to grow more food not just for myself but for others. I live in a food desert.
What are you most excited to start growing in the garden?
I: Build a windmill to take advantage of the wind and harness it for natural power. Also build a compost bin so that we can recycle and reuse. There’s something I call LAZARUS JUICE, which I use to replenish the land by soaking weeds in a tub of water to use the nutrients. We are focused on growing ginger, echinacea, okra and kale, etc. Bioaccumulators are important, for example, sunflowers can absorb the lead in the system just like mushrooms which also soak toxins up too.
F: Beets, they’re really good for the heart.
Photo by Alex Ajayi
Many Black and Brown communities have been disconnected from the outdoors and nature. Would you say there has been a monopoly on the monetization of being out in nature that has restricted the access to POC?
I: We live in a food desert where you have to drive into white neighborhoods to access the organic vegetables and fruits.
F: Black families have been forced to live in food desert areas. Having fresh fruit and veggies are important and a basic human right. Black and Brown people have been restricted from land and it's time we take it back. Every child should know where their food comes from and how it grows. We are so far from nature.
Food holds power and through education in nutrition, farming practices and gardening we can reshape society. What are the logistics for those looking to start their own organic farm/garden at a smaller scale?
I: You must have access to clean water, sunlight and a growing medium such as soil or water. After that, you need something to grow. Everything else is up to your imagination and dedication. Even in a small apartment – if you have a window seal that receives sunlight you can grow tomatoes, herbs or beans.
F: Grow what you eat. Know that you have to care for it. We can reshape society by caring for the place we live. Reduce littering, use less plastic and other things that do not decompose.
Given the current spike in unemployment paralleled with price gouging in grocery stores it seems more important than ever to spread more initiatives to provide organic and accessible produce to the community. How will your farm provide not only inspiration but serve the community in accessing the produce you grow?
I: Direct action; take the food to the streets, food banks, churches, homes, wherever.
F: By keeping it low cost we can give Black and Brown folks more than enough so they can share with friends and families.
Photo by Alex Ajayi
Do you have any volunteer projects with the youth you can foresee in the future?
I: Guiding the youth in growing their own food, germinating seeds, composting, etc.
F: Before Covid-19, students from an after school program would come to the farm garden where they learn to grow their own food. Exposing them to learning about how farming is a business. We can teach them how to to give back to the land and not just take from it.
How did you get your green thumb?
I: A lot of it is listening to people, experimenting and seeing what works by being out there and putting your hands in the soil. You apply general principles but other things are simply inspiration while being out there spending time sweating, bleeding and being out there in the land. There’s a Western way of being in a class to learn but the real class is being out there in the land and respecting it.
Can you speak to us about how farming can be used to help Black people of African descent in America heal from the trauma associated with farming?
I: There are certain programs in prisons where they have people work outside and it can be therapeutic. Being locked up in the city, with the absence of greenery can psychologically play on you. Think of the projects, they prepare you for prisons and the aesthetics are so visually present that it cuts you off the outdoors. Greenery lets you breathe- I can't breathe, think about that disconnect. There’s an exchange that happens with being around plants and animals and we are robbed of that humanity. We have a right, because we worked this land. My great grandfather used to chop sugar cane in Cuba, think about the right we have to the land. We had children come into the garden and you could see their joy immediately in their faces. When you work the land you work with bio time and by doing that you decrease your stress in understanding balance. You’re working with life and taking the time to appreciate shades of purple in the flower beds, smell jasmine, and let out those endorphins. There is a power in the plants, why else would Pfizer own a wing in the New York Botanical Garden. They know the plants so why shouldn’t we, it's therapeutic.
F: By doing the work together, we have all ownership in it. Touching the soil is a source of healing- from being in the sun.
Are there any other farmers or green thumb social accounts that followers should look into?
I: Read the book Farming While Black by Penniman.
Most people have a playlist when working, do you play music when out in the garden?
I: Never. I listen for the ancestors who died on this land at the hands of the colonizer.
F: To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamer and Victory Lap by Nipsey Hussle
To support and get updates on Faheem and Isaiah’s project follow them here.
