Charlene Mitchell

Charlene Alexander Mitchell (June 8, 1930 – December 14, 2022) was an American international socialist, feminist, labor and civil rights activist. In 1968, she became the first Black woman candidate for President of the United States. After leaving the party, she became a leader of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS) in the 1990s.

Early life and education Born Charlene Alexander in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 8, 1930, she moved with her parents and seven siblings to Chicago at the age of nine.

She joined the Communist Party USA at the age of 16, and had joined the youth branch, the American Youth for Democracy, when she was 13. Mitchell attended Herzl Junior College in Chicago and moved to Los Angeles in 1955. In Los Angeles, she founded the Che-Lumumba Club, an all-Black chapter of CPUSA, in the 1960s. Mitchell's brother and sister-in-law Franklin and Kendra Alexander were also active in the Che-Lumumba Club. Mitchell moved to New York City in 1968. She represented the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and her running mate was Michael "Mike" Zagarell, the National Youth Director of the party. They were entered on the ballots in only four states and received about 1000 votes.

After the death of prominent CPUSA member Henry Winston in 1986, Mitchell and other party members questioned the direction of the party. Others who left the Party then included Herbert Aptheker, Gil Green, and Michael Myerson.

Mitchell became an elected leader of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS) in the 1990s. In 1994 she served as an official international observer of the first democratic elections in post-apartheid South Africa, where Nelson Mandela was elected president.

Selected works The Fight to Free Angela Davis: Its Importance for the Working Class, New York: New Outlook Publishers (1972), Equality: its time has come, New York: New Outlook Publishers (1985)

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