Mark R. Charles is a Native American activist, public speaker, consultant, and author on Native American issues, as well as a journalist, blogger,

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

pastor, and

computer programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

. He was an

independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

in the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...

.Bennett-Begaye, (May 30, 2019). Jourdan

Early life

Charles, the son of a

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

father and a

Dutch-American Dutch Americans ( nl, Nederlandse Amerikanen) are Americans of Dutch descent whose ancestors came from the Netherlands in the recent or distant past. Dutch settlement in the Americas started in 1613 with New Amsterdam, which was exchanged with ...

mother, grew up in

Gallup, New Mexico Zuni: ''Kalabwaki'' , settlement_type = City , nickname = "Indian Capital of the World" , motto = , image_skyline = Gallup, New Mexico.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption ...

. He is a graduate of

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA).

Activism and career

As an activist, Charles is known for denouncing the

doctrine of discovery The discovery doctrine, or doctrine of discovery, is a disputed interpretation of international law during the Age of Discovery, introduced into United States municipal law by the US Supreme Court Justice John Marshall in ''Johnson v. M'Intosh' ...

and for his opposition to the

Dakota Access Pipeline The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) or Bakken pipeline is a underground pipeline in the United States that has the ability to transport up to 750,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil per day. It begins in the shale oil fields of the Bakken Forma ...

. Charles is a former pastor at the Christian Indian Center in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He is a consultant for the

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Calvin Theological Seminary is a private Christian Reformed Church seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is closely tied to Calvin University, though each institution has its own board. History The seminary was founded in 1876 with the purp ...

, as well as the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, correspondent for ''Native News Online''. Since 2008, he has written the

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

''Wirelesshogan: Reflections from the Hogan''.

2020 presidential campaign

On May 28 2019, Charles announced via a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

video that he was running for

as an independent in the 2020 election. On August 20, he spoke at the Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum, alongside major candidates including

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...

, and Kamala Harris. On July 25, 2020, Charles announced his choice of former Green Party Presidential candidate Sedinam Moyowasifza-Curry as his running mate. Less than three weeks later, On August 14, his campaign released a statement saying that Sedinam Moyowasifza-Curry had been dropped as Charles' running mate. On August 26, Charles announced that Adrian Wallace, Vice President of the Lexington

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

and Chairman of the Kentucky State Conference of the NAACP, had been chosen as his running mate. Charles had ballot access in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

with write-in access in several states. He received a total of 3,098 reported votes in the 2020 election, including 2,011 votes from ballot access and 1,087 reported votes from write-in access.

Personal life

Charles is a Christian. He was a pastor for a Christian Reformed Church for two years.

References

External links

Mark Charles 2020
official presidential campaign site
'We the People' - the three most misunderstood words in US history
Tedx Talk given by Charles
Wirelesshogan: Reflections from the Hogan
Charles' blog {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Mark Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Native Americans American computer programmers American bloggers American male bloggers American members of the Christian Reformed Church in North America American people of Dutch descent American anti-racism activists Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election Native American activists Native American journalists Native Americans' rights activists Navajo writers New Mexico Independents People from Gallup, New Mexico Politicians from Denver University of California, Los Angeles alumni Washington, D.C., Independents