Leslie Cagan Explained

Leslie Cagan
Birth Date:1947
Birth Place:The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Occupation:Social justice advocate
LGBT advocate
Years Active:1969 - Present
Known For:Pacifism
Gender Equality Advocacy

Leslie Cagan is an American activist, writer, and socialist organizer involved with the peace and social justice movements.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] She is the former national coordinator of United for Peace and Justice, the former co-chair of Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, and the former chair of Pacifica Radio.[7]

Early life

Cagan was born in 1947 to a Jewish couple in The Bronx, New York City, in what she described as a "red diaper" family.[8] She attended her first political rally as a young child in the 1950s, accompanied by her parents, who were former members of the Communist Party.[2] [8] [9] Her grandmother, a seamstress, was a founding member of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union.[5] She graduated from New York University in 1968 with a degree in art history.[1]

Career

In 1969, Cagan was among the first participants of the Venceremos Brigade, groups of young adults who visited Cuba under the auspices of harvesting sugar cane.[10] During her journey to Havana, Cagan told an Associated Press reporter: "All of us support the Cuban Revolution and feel that by going and working with the Cubans we can show that support."[10]

After choosing to skip graduate school, Cagan began her lifetime career of promoting various causes, predominantly in the anti-war movement, the anti-nuclear movement, the LGBT rights movement, the feminist movement, and normalization of relations with Cuba.[1] [2] [8] Cagan has been described by The New York Times as one of the "grandes dames of the country's progressive movement" and a "national figure in the antiwar movement."[1]

During the late 1960s - early 1970s, Cagan was actively involved with the Black Panther Party.[11] Cagan has protested the incarceration of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Black Panther Party member convicted and sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner.[12]

On June 12, 1982, Cagan was a lead organizer of the anti-nuclear rally held in New York City, attended by hundreds of thousands of activists.[13] She was co-chair of the 1987 protest for gay and lesbian rights.[12]

In 2002, Cagan was among the founders of United for Peace and Justice, a left-wing coalition of more than 1,300 international and U.S.-based organizations opposed to what they describe as "our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building." The organization was founded in the months preceding the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[5] [7] An opponent of military intervention,[14] Cagan is strongly opposed to U.S. military forces staying in Iraq.[15] Her view of Iraqi insurgents fighting U.S.-led coalition forces: "What I do think is legitimate is that people who are being occupied would find a way to work against that occupation. If you call that an insurgency, then so be it."[5] In regards to U.S. relations with Israel, Cagan had described U.S. funds as going "to help maintain the deadly Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories."[5]

Cagan co-founded the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, a socialist group that left the Communist Party, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.[16] [17] In 1997, she was an organizer for the 14th annual World Festival of Youth and Students.[18] Cagan is a member of the New York Committee to Free the Cuban Five, an advocacy group seeking the release of five Cubans convicted in 2001 of spying on Cuban American exiles and U.S. military bases for Fidel Castro.[19] [20] In reference to peace activism, Cagan has said, "We have so much to learn from the history of the Communist Party about how this work has been done."[21]

In 2004, Cagan was included in Out magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential LGBT people.[22] She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her partner, author and activist Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz (d. 2018), founding director of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice.[1] [5]

Works

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: A Longtime Antiwar Activist, Escalating the Peace . Hedges . Chris . Chris Hedges . February 4, 2003 . . B2 . December 31, 2009 . May 27, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150527225438/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/04/nyregion/public-lives-a-longtime-antiwar-activist-escalating-the-peace.html . live .
  2. News: The Lady Doth Protest, but It's Harder . Haberman . Clyde . Clyde Haberman . March 18, 2008 . . December 31, 2009 . April 19, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100419143823/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/nyregion/18nyc.html . live .
  3. March 20, 1989 . Gay Politics and AIDS: Leslie Cagan . . . 248 . 11 . 362 . 0027-8378 . December 31, 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110604234220/http://www.aegis.com/news/ads/1989/AD890697.html . June 4, 2011 .
  4. News: New York lockdown . Goldberg . Michelle . Michelle Goldberg . August 11, 2004 . . January 1, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090115233835/http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/08/11/rnc_protest/index.html . January 15, 2009 .
  5. News: Preparing To Protest As the Republicans Come to Town . Treiman . Daniel . August 27, 2004 . . January 1, 2010 . October 12, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081012001412/http://www.forward.com/articles/5205/ . live .
  6. News: Why Left Goes Right To Leslie . Williams . Joe . August 25, 2004 . . January 1, 2010 . September 24, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230924055424/https://www.nydailynews.com/2004/08/25/why-left-goes-right-to-leslie/ . live .
  7. McFarland . Duncan . May 2009 . Looking Back at UFPJ: An Interview With Leslie Cagan . Dialogue & Initiative . . 2 - 9 . December 31, 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100518044705/http://www.cc-ds.org/newsletters/D%26ISummer2009.pdf . May 18, 2010 .
  8. Book: Cagan, Leslie . They Should Have Served That Cup of Coffee: 7 Radicals Remember the 60s . Cluster, Dick . . Boston . 1979 . 225 - 260 . Something New Emerges: The Growth of a Socialist Feminist . 978-0-89608-082-9 . https://books.google.com/books?id=rVD6beRTVj4C&q=%22Leslie+Cagan%22&pg=PA225 . December 31, 2009 .
  9. Arike . Ando . September 2006 . Leslie Cagan: co-founder of United for peace and justice. . . . 0033-0736 . December 31, 2009 . February 1, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190201120119/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Leslie+Cagan:+co-founder+of+United+for+peace+and+justice-a0151663639 . live .
  10. News: 75 Americans Bound For Cuba To Help Castro . Jones . Stratford C. . November 29, 1969 . . . 10–A . December 31, 2009 . October 23, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221023154203/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E7kqAAAAIBAJ&dq=leslie-cagan&pg=4446%2C4363442 . live .
  11. Book: Pinar, William . William Pinar . What is Curriculum Theory? . Lawrence Erlbaum Associates . Mahwah, New Jersey . 2004 . 113 - 114 . 978-0-8058-4827-4 .
  12. Book: Meyer, Matt . Let Freedom Ring: A Collection of Documents from the Movements to Free U.S. Political Prisoners . . Oakland, California . 393 . 2008 . 978-1-60486-035-1 .
  13. Kaplan . Esther . December 18, 2002 . A Hundred Peace Movements Bloom . . 0027-8378 . January 1, 2010 . December 5, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081205024900/http://www.thenation.com./doc/20030106/kaplan . live .
  14. https://worldbeyondwar.org/talk-nation-radio-leslie-cagan-climate-peace-activism/ Talk Nation Radio: Leslie Cagan on Climate and Peace Activism
  15. Harkinson . Josh . October 17, 2007 . Leslie Cagan, United for Peace and Justice . . 0362-8841 . December 31, 2009 . May 30, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090530095749/http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/10/leslie-cagan-united-peace-and-justice . live .
  16. News: CoC votes for mass workers party . Sheppard . Barry . August 17, 1994 . . January 1, 2010 . dead . https://archive.today/20121129041543/http://www.greenleft.org.au/1994/155/9068 . November 29, 2012 .
  17. Malapanis . Argiris . February 23, 2004 . It's what you're for that counts, not what you're against . . . 68 . 7 . 0026-3885 . January 2, 2010 . March 1, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100301142409/http://www.themilitant.com/2004/6807/680736.html . live .
  18. News: Cuba prepares for World Youth Festival . La Riva . Gloria . Gloria La Riva . March 20, 1997 . Workers World . . January 1, 2010 . February 18, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120218205632/http://www.workers.org/ww/wyfest.html . dead .
  19. News: 'Cuban Five' file appeal with Supreme Court . Mears . Bill . January 30, 2009 . . January 1, 2010 . May 10, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100510050421/http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/30/scotus.cuban.five/ . live .
  20. News: Women leaders going to D.C. to demand freedom for Cuban Five . Pratt . Minnie Bruce . Minnie Bruce Pratt . September 20, 2005 . Workers World . . January 1, 2010 . January 11, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100111071627/http://www.workers.org/2005/world/cuban-women-0929/ . live .
  21. News: Party of hope archives show living history . Margolis . Dan . March 30, 2007 . . . January 1, 2010 . July 16, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716230556/http://www.peoplesworld.org/-party-of-hope-archives-show-living-history/ . live .
  22. December 2004 . OUT 100 . . 13 . 6 . 110 . 1062-7928 . January 2, 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131108052917/http://books.google.com/books?id=ZWIEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA110&dq=%22Leslie%20Cagan%22&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&pg=PA110 . November 8, 2013 .

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