Parren Mitchell

Parren Mitchell...

Communist support

Tim Wheeler and Joyce Wheeler lived in the 7th Congressional District of Maryland and doorbelled to help elect Rep. Parren Mitchell their first African-American congressmember. Later, they cast their ballots for Rep. Kweisi Mfume and in 1996 voted for Elijah Cummings. They doorbelled for Barack Obama for President in 2008 and 2012. He carried the 7th CD in an overwhelming landslide.

Cuba recognition drive

In 1972, a coalition of congressmen, radical activists and some communists spearheaded a drive to relax relations with Fidel Castro's Cuba.

Under, the auspices of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D.- Mass.) and Sen. Harold Hughes (D.-Iowa), a two day conference of liberal scholars assembled in April, in the New Senate Office Building to thrash out a fresh U.S. policy on Cùba.

Among congressional sponsors of the seminar were Sen. J. William Fulbright (D.-Ark.) and Sen. Jacob K. Javits (R.-N.Y.), both influential members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Sen. George McGovern (D.-S.D.), Rep. Bella Abzug (D~-N.Y.) and Rep. Ron Dellums (D.-Calif.).

Other sponsors included Senators Alan Cranston (D-CA), Mike Gravel (D - Alaska), Fred Harris (D - OK), Philip Hart (D - MI) and Frank Moss (D - UT)

Congressmen Joseph Addabo (D - NY), Herman Badillo ( D - NY), Alphonzo Bell (R -CA), Jonathan Bingham (D - NY), John Brademas (D -Indiana), Donald Fraser (D - Minn.), Seymour Halpern (R - NY), Lee Hamilton (D - Ind.), Michael J. Harrington (D - MA), Patsy Mink (D -HI), Parren Mitchell (D - MD), Charles Rangel (D - NY), Thomas Rees (D - CA), William Fitts Ryan (D - NY), Ogden Reid (D - NY), Benjamin Rosenthal ( D - NY), Morris Udall ( D - AZ).

Secretary of the New York State Communist Party USA, Michael Myerson was among the observers.

One panelist, John M. Cates, Jr., director of the , Center for Inter-American Relations, matter of factly remarked during the discussions: "So why are we here'? We're here so Sen. Kennedy can have a rationale to get our country to recognize Cuba."

The conference was financed by a New York-based organization called the Fund for the New Priorities in America, a coalition of groups clearly sympathetic to many pro-Communist causes.

The Fund was virtually the same group as the Committee for Peace and New Priorities, a pro-Hanoi group which bought an ad in November 1971 in the New York Times demanding Nixon set a Viet Nam withdrawal date. Both the Fund for the New Priorities and the Committee for Peace, were located at the same address in New York.

Cablegram to Portugese Socialists and the M.F.A.

In 1974, after a pro-communist military coup in Portugal;

More than eighty Americans, all identified with opposition to the Vietnamese war and with various radical and liberal causes, sent on August 9 a cablegram to to the Portugese Armed Forces Movement, to Portugese president Francisco da Costa Gomes and to Portugese socialist leader Mario Soares expressing the hope that "democratic freedoms"...will continue to grow in Portugal".

Michael Harrington, the national chairman of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee, organized the effort with help from 5 "Initiators" - Lawrence Birns (writer), Sissy Farenthold (past president National Women's Political Caucus), Congressman Michael J. Harrington, Martin Peretz (chairman, editorial board New Republic), Cleveland Robinson (vice president, Distributive Workers of America), Leonard Woodcock (president United Auto Workers, Jerry Wurf (president AFSME).

Elected officials who signed the cablegram included: Julian Bond, Willie Brown, Jr., John Conyers, Jr., Don Edwards, William Gluba, Edward J. Koch, Parren J. Mitchell, Henry S. Reuss, Benjamin S. Rosenthal and Louis Stokes.

Founding Members CBC

The following were founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus:

• Shirley Chisholm
• William Lacy Clay, Sr.
• George W. Collins
• John Conyers
• Ron Dellums
• Charles Diggs
• Augustus Hawkins
• Ralph Metcalfe
• Parren Mitchell
• Robert Nix
• Charles B. Rangel
• Louis Stokes
• Walter Fauntroy, Washington D.C. delegate

CES event

On June 3, 1975, Coalition for Economic Survival honored Rep. Parren Mitchell, at a banquet at the Airport Hyatt Inn, Los Angeles. Mitchell was being honored because of his Transfer Amendment - which would redirect several billion from military to social spending.

CES chair Rev. Al Dortch presided. Sharing the podium with Mitchell were William Robertson, exec secretary of the Los Angeles Federation of Labor, and Humberto Comacho of the United Electrical Workers.

Ruth Yanatta, newly elected Santa Monica councilor and CES founder, was also an honored guest.

Assemblywomen Maxine Waters also presented an award from the state legislative black caucus, to Mitchell and CES.

Honorary co-chairs of the event included Ed Asner, former US rep Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, US reps John Conyers and Ed Roybal, and actor John Randolph.

IVI-IPO

In 1981 Parren Mitchell was a Vice President of Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization.

Letter to Samaranch

The '84 Mobilization for Peace and Justice, penned a July 25, 1984 letter to Dr. Juan Antonio Samaranch and Members of the International Olympic Committee, Olympic Headquarters Biltmore Hotel 515 S. Olive St. Los Angeles, CA 90013

We wish to express our outrage at the statements made by members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in support of the Racist Apartheid Regime of South Africa, which is seeking to regain membership of the IOC. Morever we think that appropriate measures should be taken to hasten Mr. Roby's planned retirement and to replace Mr. Roosevelt as members of the IOC.

Rep. Parren Mitchell, endorsed the letter.

"Solidarity"

Circa 1984, July 17, at the Great Electronic Underground, San Francisco, Democratic Socialists of America's American Solidarity Movement organized a reception "Solidarity"at the Democratic Party Convention, in support of US labor.

Sponsors included Rep. Parren Mitchell.

Voted against Contra aid

Two Baltimore Democratic reps, Barbara Mikulski and Parren Mitchell, consistently voted against Contra aid in 1986. Their replacements, Kweisi Mfume and Ben Cardin, continued the pattern in 1987-88.

References

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