Born in New York, Mokhtefi began working as a translator for anti-racist and anti-colonial activist movements after moving to Paris in her twenties.
Her memoir of her time there, Algiers, Third World Capital: Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries, Black Panthers, was published by Verso Books in 2018.
[1] In 1952, after arriving in France, she attended the International Workers' Day parade in Paris, where she met Algerian trade unionists.
[4] As Fanon's health declined in 1961, eventually leading to his death, Mokhtefi visited him regularly and supported his family, helping to take care of his 6-year-old son, Olivier.
In particular, she helped organize the clandestine exile of Eldridge Cleaver in Algeria after he fled the United States via Cuba.
She also met the likes of Fidel Castro, Houari Boumédiène, Ahmed Ben Bella, and Ho Chi Minh through her work.
[1][8][4] Her activism continued in New York, where she has participated in antiwar actions, climate marches, Occupy Wall Street, and pro-Palestinian protests.