Get Up, Stand up!!!

Michael McCarty learned storytelling from his mother. And his life has indeed been one heaven of a story to tell: a student activist, Black Panther, US Army martial arts instructor, acupuncturist, world traveler, spiritual seeker, construction worker, storyteller, husband, father, and crazy friend, he first learned about professional storytelling in 1992 when he met Joel ben Izzy from Berkeley, CA. McCarty’s life has since been a series of studying, learning and absorbing storytelling from different parts of the world including Africa and has utilized his skills to transform people through the art of storytelling at large and behind bars. 

In 1996 McCarty initiated the GRIOT Workshop in Leimert Park in Los Angeles, CA and was the Pacific Region Representative for the National Storytelling Network (NSN) Board of Directories from 2004 until 2008. He is currently one of many artists serving The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) where he teaches storytelling to incarcerated men and youth in the Arts in Corrections program.  

This program is sponsored by the Humanities Institute