Forty years after walking out the front door and down the steps of a Chicago apartment, escaping death by just a few hours, Michael D. McCarty today is alive and well, relishing in success. He is doing something that he doesn’t consider unique, something he has always done and something that most do for free. He is telling stories.
On Dec. 3, 1969, McCarty was a member of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP), an African-American revolutionary organization founded in October of 1966. He had been visiting the chapter’s deputy chairman, Fred Hampton and storytelling was the furthest thing from his mind. McCarty was focused on revolution.
It was a focus that made the organization, including Hampton and McCarty, targets of the FBI through its counterintelligence program, better known as COINTELPRO. It was an agency program that both disrupted and destroyed political dissidents from 1956 to 1971.
McCarty left just prior to a raid, carried out by a tactical unit of the Cook County, Illinois state’s attorney’s office, in coordination with the Chicago Police Department and the FBI. The result would be two dead Panthers, one of which was Hampton,21,one of which could have been him.
Today though, McCarty is a professional story teller, who tells the historic tales of revolution and the struggle of people of African descent throughout the world.
“I get paid to run my mouth,” said McCarty, 59-year-old, California resident.
Running his mouth was always something that he loved to do, McCarty said.
McCarty attributes this love to experiences during two chapters of his life. One of those chapters is his childhood.
“My mother taught me very early, the importance of reading,” said McCarty. “She also instilled in me that I could do anything that I wanted as long as I put my mind to it and was willing to work for it.”
Born Sept. 7, 1950, McCarty was the last of four children and grew up on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. His working-class parents, especially his mother, always emphasized the importance of self expression and the necessity for self determination, McCarty said.
Those values, he said, prepared him well, allowing him to be successful in academics, athletics and life in general.
The other chapter of his life that cultivated his love for speaking was the chapter during which he was a teacher in the Black Panther Party’s education cadre, McCarty said.
“The education cadre was instrumental in helping raise black people’s level of consciousness,” said Professor Judson L. Jeffries, 45, author of several books on the Black Panther Party, including “Comrades” and “Black Power in the Belly of the Beast.”
McCarty often taught political education courses while maintaining regular Panther duties, including assisting in community breakfast programs, providing security and reading.
“That was right up my alley,” said a chuckling McCarty, referring to the great deal of reading he did as a Panther.
Even today, McCarty adamantly stresses the importance of reading, especially when speaking to students.
“There once lived an 8-year-old slave,” is the beginning of a story that he often uses to begin storytelling sessions in an effort to convey the importance of reading.
As a Panther, McCarty was given plenty of opportunities to speak, even outside of the courses he taught. On more than one occasion, Hampton entrusted to him the task of filling in for him at speaking engagements.
“Fred had the ability to put us in situations we could succeed in,” said McCarty. “He never put us in a position to fail.”
Having attended the University of Illinois, Devry University and the Midwest College of Acupuncture, later graduating and becoming an acupuncturist, McCarty has acquired much knowledge throughout the years. Still, the lessons he learned during and after his time as a Panther, hold tremendous value, McCarty said.
Using words like “motivator,” “educator,” and “leader” in his description of Hampton, McCarty cited the deputy chairman as his teacher of various lessons.
“Fred taught me the meaning of commitment,” said McCarty. “If Fred told you to go through a brick wall, you’d come out on the other side, standing straight and asking for the next one.”
This is just one of the many stories that McCarty has been sharing with his audiences since becoming a professional storyteller in 1992.
McCarty works at all levels of education. He often presents at libraries, universities, festivals and conferences worldwide. Most recently, he traveled to several countries in South America and has visited more than 30 throughout his career.
While professional storytelling may be unheard of to some, the profession has brought McCarty much success, with his schedule often consisting of three engagements weekly and profits sometimes reaching $4500.00 for a single event.
Dream Shapers, an arts organization of which McCarty is vice president, secures a large amount of McCarty’s speaking engagements. People also seek him out via the Internet, he said.
McCarty is actively involved in a number of programs and initiatives that relate to both his profession and reading.
He is presently a part of the Los Angeles Reading Project (LARP), where he acts as vice president for the Literacy Council. He also founded The Griot Workshop in 1996, belongs to the National Storytelling Network and is a member of The National Association of Black Storytellers. McCarty once told stories as a member of Tellers and Talkers, a story telling group to which he belonged for nearly ten years.
Throughout his career, he has established relationships that are significant, while in the process, doing something he holds near and dear to his heart, McCarty said.
“Storytelling is a way to share our history and culture in the world,” said McCarty.
His friend of 14 years, Barbara Clark, agrees.
“The significance of storytelling is that it allows us to share the stories of events that have shaped our lives with those who came after us,” said Clark, storyteller and secretary of the LARP’s Literacy council.
Les Perry, story teller and Michigan native, was also in agreement.
“Sharing stories is important because stories are a part of who we are,” said Perry. “We keep them alive by telling them.”
Perry added that storytelling is an intimate experience.
In doing what he believes he does best, McCarty finds no shortage of stories to share. Whether those stories pertain to African and African-American history and folklore or to personal experiences as a member of the Black Panther Party, father of one or simple human being, the stories exist in abundance, McCarty said.
With graying dreadlocks hanging long down his back, McCarty does not bear the appearance of the Panther who once taught in the BPP during a two year membership. He has since been through much and just as his appearance has evolved, so has he, he said.
McCarty lived through the death of Hampton, grieving for quite some time, endured the painful destruction of the Black Panther Party, married and divorced, became a father, served in the U.S Army, and worked as an acupuncturist.
His experiences have varied tremendously and yet through verbal expression, he connects them all while doing something he loves, McCarty said.
Those who know him best, describe him in numerous ways.
“One word describes Michael, and that is audacious,” said Clark.
Walker, McCarty’s friend of 44 years, agreed adding that McCarty’s enthusiasm and positive attitude are unique.
Despite their varying ways of describing McCarty, his close friends all agree that there friend is special, in part because of his current profession.
“Michael and others like him are the means by which history can be passed on,” said Walker.
McCarty believes that he is doing nothing more than what he is destined to be doing, he said.
“People go through life looking for their life’s purpose,” explained McCarty. “At one point I wanted to be a physicist, I studied math and engineering but when I discovered storytelling, I knew that was it for me.”
“I will do this until the day I die,” added McCarty. “It means the world to me.”
