‘I gave him hell but he followed his heart’

THE fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree, unless of course that fruit was caught by the strong current of revolution and carried to greatness and a prominent, permanent place in history. The fruit that was Stokely Carmichael, who later changed his name to Kwame Ture, one of the greatest revolutionary voices of all time, fell far from the tree but never lost the fundamental characteristics of the one who gave birth to him, the distinguished and powerful Mabel Charles Carmichael.

“I was no part of his activities during the freedom ride. I offered him education, I just pushed him academically. I really don’t know where he got his revolutionary ways from. Certainly not from me,” declared the vibrant 85-year-old. “Stokely went on to Howard University Pre-Med. One day he called and said, “Ma I won’t be continuing the medical programme, I want to help people before they get sick.” I was like, ‘What the hell are you talking about! Helping people before they get sick!’ What I didn’t know was that at that time he was going on the freedom ride. “I didn’t send him to university to be a revolutionary, I sent him to study. One day I turned on the radio and heard that one of these three rebel boys from Howard was Stokely Carmichael.”

That powerful voice of the woman, affectionately called May Charles by many, dipped as she said, “I used to sit and pray all the time because as a mother I always thought that they could kill him at anytime because back then they were willing to kill anyone who was fighting for the freedom of oppressed people. I gave him hell but he was stubborn and he followed his heart. “Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t like the fact that my son was involved in this revolution, but the love that I have for him never changed. I supported him in whatever way I could. Now I can look back at the efforts he made and appreciate their impact. The person that was out there marching with his fist up through the streets was not the same person in my house. Our relationship never really changed,”  May Charles added with a broad smile.

A friendly acquaintance of hers interjected to say, “She would keep his room just as if he were still living with her in the house. She would proudly say, ‘That’s Stokely’s room’.” May Charles in her semi-Trini, semi-American accent said of her son: “He was always very intelligent. Even while in Trinidad, he always spoke well. He was a gift and I was just the person that brought this gift to the world. He never gave me any problems, always did his homework and always paid attention to what I told him. The greatness that I see in him is not the greatness that the world saw.” She laughed as she reminisced: “The nicest in the home and the rowdiest in the street. That kid turned down Harvard University. I was going to send him to one of the top universities in the world and he just said he wasn’t ever going to go to a white man’s school. That was it. So he went to Howard.”

Regarding her involvement in the establishment of the Stokely Carmichael Memorial, she said, “I went to Guinea before he died. They did not let me come but I knew he was dying so I went. “When I got there he said, ‘I know you didn’t like what I was doing but do me one favour,’ not to take his papers and books to America. He has never stopped talking about the kids who can’t read and write and needed a place to go to get them off the streets. Bob Brown was his friend and secretary and he offered his assistance in the planning of the memorial.” Brown who also spoke to People had this to say about May Charles:

“I recall one time in particular when her hospitality and diplomacy stood out during a meeting we had at her house. This was a very heated and intense meeting, but she was so diplomatic and throughout the meeting giving samples of her cooking. I stayed overnight and felt right at home.” Stokely certainly got some of her positive attributes. He did not bring his politics home but the courtesy, the respect, the manners and his love for older people. It is clear that she, his family and the community around their Oxford Street home raised him a certain way, the right way, and they carry themselves the same way.