Donavan Mitchem

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Donavan Mitchem (born ca. 1989) is an American from Chicago, noted for political activism, including a stint as a television correspondent on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Mitchem, then age 7, talked his way into the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Mitchem picketed in front of the United Center for more than four hours with a placard reading “Let me in, DNC. Let me in.” Given a pass by Charles Monneypenny, a representative of the Transport Workers Union of America, it took another three hours to convince security to let his mother and him in on the same pass. Once inside, he attracted the interest of the press. Afterward, Oprah Winfrey made Donavan a correspondent, and he covered President Bill Clinton’s victory speech in Little Rock, attended his inauguration in Washington, D.C., and attended the 2000 DNC as a guest of Clinton.

By age 11, Mitchem had been President of the "Kiddy Group" at Rainbow/PUSH, and had written for the Chicago Defender.

Mitchem attends the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools Hyde Park, a Chicago southside neighborhood, and will graduate in 2007. He has studied at Oxford University and in Paris.

[edit] Quotes

• "Kids don’t have a voice in the political process in this country"

[edit] References

• Area teen holds a political distinction, ABC News, February 23, 2006. Accessed July 10, 2006.
• Millennium Dreamers Delegates to Be Announced, United Nations Information Service, March 21, 2000. Accessed July 10, 2006.
• Millennium Dreamers Children Honored for Contributions to Their Communities: Dreams That Made a Difference, by Paul Wisenthal. Accessed July 10, 2006.
• McDonald's and Disney Name 2,000 'Millennium Dreamers' Ambassadors To Attend Youth Summit, press release. Accessed July 10, 2006.