Mitchell was born and raised on Sterling Street in Greenville County. At the age of 16, he went to college at Fisk University, where he studied Biology and minored in Chemistry. During graduate school, he performed cancer research for an organization known as Microbiological Associates. However, the passion was not there.

Mitchell went to Washington, DC shortly after this time. He had several friends already in law school and an interest in law gravitated him toward entering as well. Successful in this pursuit, he received his Juris Doctorate in law from Howard University in 1969, then moved back to Greenville, SC.

He was met with conditions that required advocacy for change. "I did not just hang my head in shame at the way that Greenville was back then," says Mitchell. Instead, he pushed for transformation.

In 1974, he was elected to the S.C. State House of Representatives. He served in this capacity until 1984, when he was elected to the Senate. While in the House, he was able to pass popular legislation such as the mandating of school breakfast programs to feed hungry children across the state. This would be the first of many triumphs.

Theo Mitchell goes down in history as being the first African-American to serve in many positions. These include Greenville City Housing Authority Board, Greenville County Recreation Committee, Senator elected from the Upstate to serve a full term, member of the Greenville County Legislation Board, Chair of the Corrections and Penology Committee and Chair of Reconstruction for a Senate Committee.

One of his most passionate battles has been to ensure justice for African-American men. This was the premise of his appointment as chair for the Corrections and Penology Committee. During his term, he influenced guidelines regarding pardon, probation and parole. He feels his involvement helped to curb the way that African-American men had previously been "persecuted, prosecuted and executed," in his own words.

For 2007, Mitchell would like to see more African-Americans graduate from high school, attend college, and seek careers such as those in education, healthcare, communication, medicine and law. "We cannot all be wonderful athletes; we must identify the capacity of our minds," says Mitchell.

"I would also like to see more organizing of our own businesses," adds Mitchell. "I would like to see 'us' working for 'us'."