Photo Credit: Deadline
On Tuesday, April 6, 2021, attorney and MSNBC legal analyst, Midwin Charles, passed away at age 47. The week before, she had postponed one of her group Instagram gatherings, saying she wasn’t feeling well. Before that, she celebrated Deb Haaland: “This is amazing news! Herstory made during Women’s History Month could not be more poetic. Deb Haaland is the first Native American to serve as a cabinet member in 2021? Appalling it took this long. Native Americans were almost driven to extinction by genocide when Europeans arrived on these shores. She is the 35th generation on this land. Yes, 35.” And prior to that, she had gone with her vaccine reluctant Mom to get vaccinated. Midwin was thrilled that her mother got vaccinated, and was encouraging friends to keep at their parents who were reluctant.
But In a post this week, her family reported that she had passed away. Her family reported: “It is with a profoundly heavy heart and the deepest sadness that we announce the untimely passing of our beloved Midwin Charles.” They continued, “She was known to many as a legal commentator on television but to us, she was devoted daughter, sister, aunt, niece, and cousin. Our lives are forever changed and we will miss her for a lifetime. The family thanks you in advance for your love and prayers.”
Midwin Charles, who also appeared on CNN and contributed to Essence magazine, and The Huffington Post, was born and raised in Brooklyn. She was a member of the Dean’s Diversity Council for American University’s Washington College of Law and served on the board of Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN). With this, Charles was a member of the Civil Rights Committee for the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and lectured at Syracuse University. She founded the law firm, Midwin Charles & Associates, in New York City.
According to TODAY, Charles also worked for CNN as a legal contributor for “In Session,” and started “Infinite Possibilities of the Law Degree.”
MSNBC’s Joy Reid shared she was “stunned” by the news of Charles’ Death. Reid tweeted, “Midwin dear heart, you were a brilliant spirit and beautiful soul. You were such a blessing, I’m just stunned, and have been since I learned of this today.”
The New York Post also shared that, “White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also paid tribute to the lawyer.” She shared, “This one hit really hard today. Rest in Power Sis @MidwinCharles.”