We would like to introduce Ezekiel (Ziek) McCarter, who has been working at CommunityGrows since August 2012. He is our Rosa Parks Elementary School Garden Assistant. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays you will often find him tending the lower garden and assisting teachers and students with their classroom plots. Ziek came to us for our BEETS (Band of Environmentally Educated and Employable Teens) Program in the Summer of 2011 and stayed for three sessions (one year).
Ziek also helps out on Rosa Parks Salad Days every month, culling the garden with students for vegetables and lettuce and helping to prepare and serve up delicious salad in the cafeteria at lunchtime. He also teaches after-school classes at Rosa Parks. This summer he is working at Rosa Parks with youth from the Buchanan YMCA, Up on Top Organization and Prince Hall Learning Center. On Tuesday afternoons this summer you’ll also find him cooking with the youth from the African American Arts and Culture Complex at Hayes Valley Community Room.
As some of you may know, Ziek also has another life. Besides going to City College of San Francisco, he is an accomplished musician. He is a young Fillmore Front-man/Singer/Songwriter and Entertainer Extraordinaire, whose soulful voice and electrifying stage presence have quickly become a captivating force in the San Francisco Bay Area’s music scene. He has been performing alongside Afrolicious, Ascension Live, ‘Oscar Myers & Steppin’, Will Magid Trio, Martin Luther, Con Brio, and leading The Monthly Soul Train Revival. Ziek also contributes to rocking sold out crowds at legendary venues and festivals all across the country. Ranging throughout the styles of R&B, Blues, and Funk, with a strong foundation of spirit-filled Soul. As his blog says, “this young Prophet of Positivity is sure to elevate your Spirit to its limitless potential!” In fact, he created a song for his youthful charges, bringing music whenever he can into the Rosa Parks Garden.
Here is one of the first songs he did as a high school senior which got us jazzed at CommunityGrows! Since then his music career has soared! You can see some of his more current music videos here.