Leslie Cagan

Last updated
Leslie Cagan
NLN Leslie Cagan.jpg
Leslie Cagan, 2009
Born1947
The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Social justice advocate
LGBT advocate
Years active1969 - 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]

Contents

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

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noam Chomsky</span> American linguist and activist (born 1928)

Avram Noam Chomsky is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Among the most cited living authors, Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, and politics. In addition to his work in linguistics, since the 1960s Chomsky has been an influential voice on the American left as a consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, and corporate influence on political institutions and the media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)</span> U.S. designation applied to certain countries

"State Sponsors of Terrorism" is a designation applied to countries that are alleged to have "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism" per the United States Department of State. Inclusion on the list enables the United States government to impose four main types of unilateral sanctions: a restriction of foreign aid, a ban on weapons sales, heightened control over the export of dual-use equipment, and other miscellaneous economic sanctions. The State Department is required to maintain the list under section 1754(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Zinn</span> American historian and socialist thinker (1922–2010)

Howard Zinn was an American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist intellectual and World War II veteran. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn wrote more than 20 books, including his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United States in 1980. In 2007, he published a version of it for younger readers, A Young People's History of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. J. Muste</span> Dutch-American Christian pacifist and civil rights activist (1885–1967)

Abraham Johannes Muste, usually cited as A. J. Muste, was a Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist. He is best remembered for his work in the labor movement, pacifist movement, antiwar movement, and civil rights movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Albert</span> Economist, activist, speaker, writer

Michael Albert is an American economist, speaker, writer, and political critic. Since the late 1970s, he has published on a variety of subjects. He has set up his own media outfits, magazines, and podcasts. He is known for helping to develop the socioeconomic theory of participatory economics.

ZNetwork, formerly known as Z Communications, is a left-wing activist-oriented media group founded in 1986 by Michael Albert and Lydia Sargent. It is, in broad terms, ideologically libertarian socialist, anti-capitalist, and heavily influenced by participatory economics, although much of its content is focused on critical commentary of foreign affairs. Its publications include Z Magazine, ZNet, and Z Video. Since early November 2022, they have all been regrouped under the name ZNetwork.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Propaganda model</span> Conceptual model in political economy

The propaganda model is a conceptual model in political economy advanced by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky to explain how propaganda and systemic biases function in corporate mass media. The model seeks to explain how populations are manipulated and how consent for economic, social, and political policies, both foreign and domestic, is "manufactured" in the public mind due to this propaganda. The theory posits that the way in which corporate media is structured creates an inherent conflict of interest and therefore acts as propaganda for anti-democratic elements.

<i>Hegemony or Survival</i> Book by Noam Chomsky

Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance is a book about the United States and its foreign policy written by American political activist and linguist Noam Chomsky. It was first published in the United States in November 2003 by Metropolitan Books and then in the United Kingdom by Penguin Books. It was republished by Haymarket Books in January 2024.

Edward Samuel Herman was an American economist, media scholar and social critic. Herman is known for his media criticism, in particular the propaganda model hypothesis he developed with Noam Chomsky, a frequent co-writer. He held an appointment as Professor Emeritus of finance at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania. He also taught at Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

South End Press was a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 in Boston's South End. It published books written by political activists, notably Arundhati Roy, Noam Chomsky, bell hooks, Winona LaDuke, Manning Marable, Ward Churchill, Cherríe Moraga, Andrea Smith, Howard Zinn, Jeremy Brecher and Scott Tucker. South End Press closed in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aviva Chomsky</span> American historian (born 1957)

Aviva Chomsky is an American professor, historian, author, and activist. She is a professor of history and the Coordinator of Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies at Salem State University in Massachusetts. She previously taught at Bates College in Maine and was a research associate at Harvard University, where she specialized in Caribbean and Latin American history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karantina massacre</span> Massacre during the Lebanese Civil War

The Karantina massacre took place on January 18, 1976, early in the Lebanese Civil War. La Quarantine, known in Arabic as Karantina, was a Muslim-inhabited district in mostly Christian East Beirut controlled by forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and inhabited by Palestinians, Kurds, Syrians, Armenians and Lebanese Sunnis. The fighting and subsequent killings also involved an old Quarantine area near the port and nearby Maslakh quarter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political positions of Noam Chomsky</span> Views of the linguist on organized society

Noam Chomsky is an intellectual, political activist, and critic of the foreign policy of the United States and other governments. Noam Chomsky describes himself as an anarcho-syndicalist and libertarian socialist, and is considered to be a key intellectual figure within the left wing of politics of the United States.

The Leninist League was a communist political party in the United States. It published a newspaper called "In Defense of Bolshevism".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States and state terrorism</span> Terrorism allegations against the U.S.

Several scholars have accused the United States of involvement in state terrorism. They have written about the US and other liberal democracies' use of state terrorism, particularly in relation to the Cold War. According to them, state terrorism is used to protect the interest of capitalist elites, and the U.S. organized a neo-colonial system of client states, co-operating with regional elites to rule through terror.

"Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor" is a classical political-economic argument asserting that, in advanced capitalist societies, state policies assure that more resources flow to the rich than to the poor, for example in the form of transfer payments.

This is a list of writings published by the American writer Noam Chomsky.

Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, 561 U.S. 1 (2010), was a case decided in June 2010 by the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the Patriot Act's prohibition on providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations. The case, petitioned by United States Attorney General Eric Holder, represents one of only two times in First Amendment jurisprudence that a restriction on political speech has overcome strict scrutiny. The other is Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar.

<i>Occupy</i> (book) 2012 book by Noam Chomsky

Occupy is a short study of the Occupy movement written by the American academic and political activist Noam Chomsky. Initially published in the United States by the Zuccotti Park Press as the first title in their Occupied Media Pamphlet Series in 2012, it was subsequently republished in the United Kingdom by Penguin Books later that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partha Banerjee</span> Indian activist

Dr. Partha Banerjee is a human rights activist, writer, educator, public speaker, media critic, and musician. Born and raised in Kolkata (Calcutta), Banerjee now lives in New York with frequent visits to India. He considers himself a disciple of world-renowned scholar Noam Chomsky. Reputed organization Brooklyn For Peace has recently nominated him to receive its coveted Pathmakers to Peace award.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hedges, Chris (February 4, 2003). "A Longtime Antiwar Activist, Escalating the Peace". The New York Times . pp. B2. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 Haberman, Clyde (March 18, 2008). "The Lady Doth Protest, but It's Harder". The New York Times . Archived from the original on April 19, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Gay Politics and AIDS: Leslie Cagan". The Nation . 248 (11). AEGiS: 362. March 20, 1989. ISSN   0027-8378. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  4. ↑ Goldberg, Michelle (August 11, 2004). "New York lockdown". Salon . Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Treiman, Daniel (August 27, 2004). "Preparing To Protest As the Republicans Come to Town". The Forward . Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  6. ↑ Williams, Joe (August 25, 2004). "Why Left Goes Right To Leslie". Daily News . Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  7. 1 2 McFarland, Duncan (May 2009). "Looking Back at UFPJ: An Interview With Leslie Cagan" (PDF). Dialogue & Initiative. Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism: 2–9. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 18, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  8. 1 2 3 Cagan, Leslie (1979). "Something New Emerges: The Growth of a Socialist Feminist". In Cluster, Dick (ed.). They Should Have Served That Cup of Coffee: 7 Radicals Remember the 60s. Boston: South End Press. pp.  225–260. ISBN   978-0-89608-082-9 . Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  9. ↑ Arike, Ando (September 2006). "Leslie Cagan: co-founder of United for peace and justice". The Progressive . thefreelibrary.com. ISSN   0033-0736. Archived from the original on February 1, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  10. 1 2 Jones, Stratford C. (November 29, 1969). "75 Americans Bound For Cuba To Help Castro". The Associated Press . The Herald-Tribune. pp. 10–A. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  11. ↑ Pinar, William (2004). What is Curriculum Theory?. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 113–114. ISBN   978-0-8058-4827-4.
  12. 1 2 Meyer, Matt (2008). Let Freedom Ring: A Collection of Documents from the Movements to Free U.S. Political Prisoners. Oakland, California: PM Press. p. 393. ISBN   978-1-60486-035-1.
  13. ↑ Kaplan, Esther (December 18, 2002). "A Hundred Peace Movements Bloom". The Nation . ISSN   0027-8378. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  14. ↑ Talk Nation Radio: Leslie Cagan on Climate and Peace Activism Archived 2018-09-21 at the Wayback Machine WorldBeyondWar.org, 2014
  15. ↑ Harkinson, Josh (October 17, 2007). "Leslie Cagan, United for Peace and Justice". Mother Jones . ISSN   0362-8841. Archived from the original on May 30, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  16. ↑ Sheppard, Barry (August 17, 1994). "CoC votes for mass workers party". Green Left Weekly . Archived from the original on November 29, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  17. ↑ Malapanis, Argiris (February 23, 2004). "It's what you're for that counts, not what you're against". The Militant . 68 (7). Socialist Workers Party. ISSN   0026-3885. Archived from the original on March 1, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
  18. ↑ La Riva, Gloria (March 20, 1997). "Cuba prepares for World Youth Festival". Workers World. Workers World Party. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  19. ↑ Mears, Bill (January 30, 2009). "'Cuban Five' file appeal with Supreme Court". CNN . Archived from the original on May 10, 2010. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  20. ↑ Pratt, Minnie Bruce (September 20, 2005). "Women leaders going to D.C. to demand freedom for Cuban Five". Workers World. Workers World Party. Archived from the original on January 11, 2010. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  21. ↑ Margolis, Dan (March 30, 2007). "Party of hope archives show living history". People's World . Communist Party USA. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  22. ↑ "OUT 100". Out . 13 (6): 110. December 2004. ISSN   1062-7928. Archived from the original on November 8, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.