First Black Woman To Run for US President, Led Battle to Free Angela Davis, Passes Away

She lived her life as an activist, and now she rests in peace.

Charlene Mitchell, the first Black woman to attempt U.S. presidency in the White House in 1968, has reportedly died at age 92.

According to The New York Times, Mitchell died on Dec.‎ 14 in a Manhattan nursing home, as per her son, Steven.

An advocate for feminism, civil rights, police violence, and economic equality, Mitchell ran for president in 1968, launching a campaign and running as the nominee for the Communist Party, the political party she joined at the age of 16.

Rest in Peace & Power, Charlene Mitchell (June 8, 1930 – December 14, 2022). Mitchell was an international socialist, feminist, labor & civil rights activist.

In 1968, she became the first Black woman candidate for President of the U.S. as the member of the Communist Party. pic.twitter.com/sRPmkQhbYa

— Black Women Radicals (@blkwomenradical) December 26, 2022

Mitchell became the Communist Party’s youngest member of its national committee when she joined in 1958.

In the 1960s, the activist founded the Che-Lumumba Club, an all-Black chapter in Los Angeles.

Mitchell was 38 when she became the Communist Party’s presidential nominee where she appeared on four state ballots, receiving around 1,000 votes, 415 in Minnesota, 377 in Washington, 260 in California and 23 in Ohio. Minnesota was ordered by a three-judge U.S. District Court to put her on their ballot.

Reportedly, Mitchell also made history as the first third party candidate to ever be placed on a ballot by a federal court, other than the U.S. Supreme Court.

The international socialist continued her advocacy in the 1970s, supporting individuals including Joan Little, the woman accused of murdering the North Carolina prison guard who allegedly sexually assaulted her. Reportedly, Mitchell also backed the Wilmington 10, which involved nine Black men and one woman who were exonerated after being convicted of arson and conspiracy.

Mitchell dissociated from the the Communist Party in the 1980s after she observed the party was centering a majority of its focus on class issues rather than expanding the fight targeting racial issues and injustices.

According to Democracy Now, Mitchell, a freedom fighter, helped lead the battle to free political prisoners that included activist Angela Davis.

Mitchell passed away in New York City.