Faheem Carter, a beloved Lick-Wilmerding High School facilities member and local food justice activist in San Francisco, sustained serious injuries in an attack after leaving a City Hall ceremony where he was being honored on November 13th. Since the attack, the LWHS community has taken action and reflected on how best to assist Carter.
Carter has undergone a number of surgeries to repair internal injuries he sustained during the attack.
One way the community has been able to help is through donating to Carter’s GoFundMe account, which has already raised over $90,000 with over 1,000 individual donors. The GoFundMe has demonstrated how meaningful and important Carter’s work is to both the LWHS community and the broader San Francisco community.
In addition to working at LWHS, Carter is the Resident Farmer and co-Director of the Florence Fang Community Farm in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. He also founded the Black Organic Farmers program at the farm. According to their website, the Black Organic Farmers Program’s goals are “Creating a sustainable food system in a three-way network between residents, the farm and food retailers, educating participants in basic gardening skills and healthy living habits and empowering participants, especially Black youth, to grow their own food, engage in physical activity and take ownership of the food they eat.”
photo courtesy of Florence Fang Community Farm
Carrie Maslow, a science teacher at LWHS, first met Carter when he was in 8th grade through an Aim High program she was co-directing. She became involved in the community farm after reading an article in the San Francisco Chronicle that highlighted Carter’s work.
Maslow, who considers Carter a friend, has since brought her Psychology PPP class to the farm several times. “I am always looking for internship possibilities for the PPP class, and this one became especially important during the shelter-in-place,” said Maslow.
During the 2020-2021 school year, the outdoor setting of the farm allowed students to visit safely. “The work felt really meaningful because, at that point, what is now the Black Organic Farm was still in transition — there was still quite a lot of garbage to clear out, new soil to move in and the crops were only beginning to flourish,” she said.
The multicultural community that the farm has created was perfect for her course, Maslow explained. “Since the farm is partly Asian and partly the Black Organic Farm (run by Carter) and so many volunteers of many different identifiers come from all over the Bay Area, it is an excellent place for students to meet and interact with others from quite different backgrounds.”
Maslow said her psychology class subtitled the “Compassion Course is a perfect match for the farm. “The idea is for students to find common ground and connect across differences with people they meet at their internships,” she said. “Intentionally trying to relate to different perspectives and life experiences is pretty central in a Brain & Behavior course, since psychology is all about understanding why people think, act and feel the way that they do.”
Her students’ work with Carter at the Black Organic Farm is a great fit for that goal. “The neighborhood is a food desert and Faheem’s mission is about food sovereignty — providing free or very inexpensive food and a communal spot for people to grow their own crops,” she said.
It was this important work that led Carter to be honored with an award at San Francisco City Hall on the day of the attack.
Ella English ’23, a member of Maslow’s Psychology PPP class, spoke on her experience volunteering at the farm. “When we visited the farm we painted fences, weeded, harvested and mulched,” she said. “It is really awesome to see cultures come together on the farm, with different members of the community.”
English emphasized that one way for LWHS students to honor Carter would be to join the Farm’s open volunteer hours, which are on Saturdays from 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM.
Interim Head of School Katie Titus explained the actions LWHS has taken so far to support Carter. After hearing about the attack, school leaders quickly reached out to Carter’s family to offer support. Titus offered insight into what Carter has meant to the school in his four year tenure. “While quiet in his day-to-day presence on campus, every tree, flower, shrub, patch of grass and planter on our campus has been cared for by Faheem. He brings an expertise and passion that helps to make our school so beautiful, and largely goes unnoticed.”
Titus expressed her hope that after the attack, the school community will become more aware of the work that Carter and other facilities members do for the school going forward.
photo courtesy of Florence Fang Community Farm
