While Mitchell had long been a Communist Party member, she and other reform-minded people wanted changes. African Americans were unhappy with the leadership of Gus Hall, as they believed he failed to recognize the international Communist Party members' responsibility for problems in the Soviet Union and other European nations. They planned a reform movement and matters came to a head at a convention in December 1991. Many who signed a letter urging reform were purged by Gus Hall from the CPUSA's national committee, including Mitchell, Angela Davis, Kendra Alexander and other African-American leaders. Others who left the Party then included Herbert Aptheker, Gil Green, and Michael Myerson.