List of Jewish American activists

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

This is a list of notable Jewish American activists. For other Jewish Americans, see Lists of Jewish Americans.

A

• Dinah Abrahamson (1954–2013), politician and activist for the African-American Lubavitch community ^[1]
• Martin Abern (1898–1949), communist youth movement leader ^[2]
• Bernard Ades (1903–1986), civil rights lawyer ^[3]
• Lori Alhadeff (born 1975), school safety activist ^[4]
• Saul Alinsky (1909–1972), community activist and theorist ^[5]
• Gloria Allred (born 1941), lawyer and radio talk show host ^[6]
• Lindsay Amer, LGBTQ Youtuber and activist ^[7]
• Stanley Aronowitz (1933–2021), sociologist, civil rights activist, and labor leader

B

• Ady Barkan, founding member of the Center for Popular Democracy and progressive activist on monetary policy and healthcare issues
• Michael Berg (born 1945), environmental activist and Green Party candidate ^[8]
• Heather Booth, civil rights activist and community organizer
• Esther Swirk Brown, civil rights activist whose landmark supreme court case ended segregation in American schools in 1958, separate does not mean equal

C

• Judi Chamberlin, American activist, leader, organizer, public speaker and educator in the psychiatric survivors movement
• Maximilian Cohen, American Socialist Party leader ^[9]
• Zipporah Michelbacher Cohen (1853–1944), American civic leader ^[10]

D

• Serge Dedina, environmental activist and politician ^[11]

E

• Adam Eli, LGBTQ activist and writer

F

• Abraham Feinberg, anti-Vietnam war activist ^[12]
• David B. Feinberg, novelist and AIDS activist with ACT UP
• Leslie Feinberg, communist butch lesbian transgender organizer.
• Ada Fisher (1947–2022), physician and perennial issues candidate ^[13]
• Clara Fraser, founder of Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party ^[14]
• Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, LGBTQ activist and first openly transgender White House staffer ^[15]
• Betty Friedan (1921–2006), feminist writer and women's movement activist ^[16]
• Sandra Froman, President of the National Rifle Association (NRA), second female president and first Jewish president ^[17]

G

• Marshall Ganz, civil rights and labor activist, lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
• Alicia Garza (born 1981), civil rights and Black Lives Matter activist ^[18]
• Joseph Gelders (1898-1950), Alabama physicist and activist who cofounded the Southern Conference for Human Welfare and the National Committee to Abolish the Poll Tax
• Pamela Geller, pro-Israel activist, author, commentator ^[19]
• Samuel Gompers (1850-1924), labor leader who founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and served as its first president
• Andrew Goodman (1943-1964), civil rights activist who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Philadelphia, Mississippi, while working with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) during Freedom Summer 1964
• Sally Gottesman, consultant for non-profits ^[20]
• Jack Greenberg (1924-2016), attorney, legal scholar, and activist who served as Director-Counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund

H

• Morris Hillquit (1869-1933), labor lawyer, a central founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America
• Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972), Polish-American rabbi and participant in the Selma to Montgomery marches during the American Civil Rights Movement
• Abbie Hoffman (1936-1989), prominent anti-war activist during the 1960s counterculture movement, and member of the Chicago Seven
• Judith Heumann (1947-2023), internationally recognized disability rights activist who was known as the "Mother of the Disability Rights Movement"
• David Horowitz (born 1939), conservative writer and activist
• Dario Hunter (born 1983), environmental activist attorney and first Muslim-born man to be ordained a rabbi ^[21]

J

• Rashida Jones (born 1976), actress, director, writer, and peace activist ^{[22] [23]}

K

• Franklin E. Kameny, gay rights leader ^[24]
• Shabbos Kestenbaum (born 1999), antisemitism activist ^[25]
• Larry Kramer (1935–2020), LGBT rights activist and playwright ^[26]
• Julie Kushner (born 1952), trade union organizer ^[27]

L

• Sandra Lawson (born 1970), social justice activist and the first ever openly gay black female rabbi ^{[28] [29]}
• Karen Lewis (labor leader) (1953–2021), educator and labor leader ^[30]
• Leon L. Lewis (1888–1954), attorney and spy who infiltrated and disrupted American Nazi movements before and during World War II, and who served as the first national secretary of the Anti-Defamation League
• Ben Linder (1959–1987), engineer and internationalist murdered by Contras while working on hydroelectric projects in Nicaragua ^[31]
• Mark Levin (born 1957), host of a syndicated radio show and a show on Fox News, who worked in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and as a chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese.

M

• Kenneth L. Marcus, attorney and activist who founded the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and former Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights in the administration of President Donald Trump. ^{[32] [33]}
• Henry Moskowitz (1880-1936), civil rights activist and co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

P

• Frances Fox Piven, political scientist, sociologist, and welfare rights activist
• Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, cosmologist, science writer, and equality activist ^[34]
• Dean Preston, member of San Francisco Board of Supervisors, civil rights attorney and tenant rights advocate ^[35]

R

• Rob Reiner, actor, director, producer, writer and anti-tobacco activist; son of Carl Reiner ^[36]
• Shais Rishon, rabbi and anti-racism activist ^[37]
• David A Rose (judge) (1906–1995), activist for human rights and against anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish bias
• Zelda Rubinstein (1933–2010), actress and human rights activist ^{[38] [39]}

S

• Max Shachtman, American Marxist and labor activist ^[40]
• Rose Schneiderman (1882-1972), sociologist, feminist activist, and labor union leader ^[41]
• Sarah Schulman, writer, historian, and LGBTQ activist
• Michael Schwerner (1939-1964), civil rights activist who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Philadelphia, Mississippi, while working with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) during Freedom Summer 1964
• Robert E Segal, activist for displaced people; for housing for Puerto Ricans against discrimination and against anti Semitism.
• Tony Serra (born 1934), criminal defense and civil rights attorney, political activist and tax resister
• Norman Siegel (born 1943), civil liberties activist and attorney ^[42]
• Michael Signer, attorney and politician ^[43]
• Arthur Spingarn, attorney and activist who served as the third president of the NAACP
• Joel Elias Spingarn, literary critic and activist who served as the second president of the NAACP
• Gloria Steinem, journalist and activist who is a major figure in second-wave feminism in the United States
• Aaron Swartz (1986-2013), internet hacktivist who campaigned against SOPA

W

• Naomi Wadler (born 2006), student activist against gun violence ^[44]
• Louis Waldman (1892–1982), labor lawyer and founding member of the Social Democratic Federation ^[45]
• Rebecca Walker (born 1969), feminist writer ^[46]
• Bret Weinstein, biology professor and free speech advocate ^[47]
• Shatzi Weisberger (1930–2022), nurse, death educator, and activist who provided care to people suffering from AIDS, organized with ACT UP, and participated in numerous other activist movements
• Harold Willens (1914–2003), anti-nuclear weapons activist ^[48]

See also

• Jewish left

Footnotes

1. "A Young Man From Omaha, Who May Perfectly Represent Brooklyn". The New York Times . June 16, 2008.
2. Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole, The American Labor Who's Who. New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pg. 1.
3. Marcus, Jacob Rader (January 1, 1990). United States Jewry, 1776-1985 (1st ed.). Wayne State University Press. p. 102. ISBN   978-0814321867.
4. Travis, Scott. "'Action! We need it now!': Mother of Parkland shooting victim turns her grief into a fight for change", Los Angeles Times , September 2, 2018. Accessed August 12, 2019
5. Horwitt, Sanford D. (1989). Let Them Call Me Rebel: Saul Alinsky, his life and legacy . New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p.  3. ISBN   0-394-57243-2.
6. Waxman, Sharon; Richard Siklos (December 19, 2006). "New Dispute Over Firing of Publisher". The New York Times. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
7. Amer, Lindsay. "Neo-Nazis targeted me on the internet — here's how I dealt with it". Business Insider. Insider Inc. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
8. "Bow Man 2006".
9. Theodore Draper, The Roots of American Communism. New York: Viking, 1957. Page 145.
10. Ezekiel, Herbert Tobias; Lichtenstein, Gaston (1917). The History of the Jews of Richmond from 1769 to 1917. H. T. Ezekiel. p. 210. ISBN   978-0-7222-4673-3.
11. "Serge Dedina Wants To Increase Civic Participation". San Diego Free Press – Grassroots News & Progressive Views. April 8, 2015.
12. Menkis, Richard. "Abraham L. Feinberg". Jewish Virtual Encyclopedia. Encyclopaedia Judaica. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
13. "Ada Fisher: Comments to NPR on race and Obama". Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
14. "Clara Fraser, 1923-1998: American rebel and architect of socialist feminism". Archived from the original on March 9, 2004.
15. AP; AFP; staff, T. O. I. "Jewish woman becomes first openly transgender White House official". The Times of Israel . ISSN   0040-7909 . Retrieved May 8, 2022.
16. Frost, Bryan-Paul; Sikkenga, Jeffrey (September 15, 2017). History of American Political Thought. Lexington Books. ISBN   9780739106242 – via Google Books.
17. Weinstein Bilson, Mara. "The President of the National Rifle Association is Jewish?". Moment Magazine. Archived from the original on December 6, 2006. Retrieved December 4, 2006.
18. "Organizers | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
19. Elgot, Jessica (June 20, 2013). "Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer To Speak At EDL Rally In Woolwich, Campaigners Call For UK Entry Ban". The Huffington Post. London.
20. http://people.equilar.com/bio/sally-gottesman-american-jewish/salary/688737#.UcNLABaFbzI ^{[ dead link ]}
21. "About Dario". Hunter 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
22. Balfour, Brad (March 11, 2011). "Actors Rashida Jones and Chris Messina Entangle in Monogamy". HuffPost . Retrieved May 25, 2018. Rashida Jones: "I'm proud to be black. I'm proud to be Jewish."
23. About Peace First: Board & Committees, Peace First. Retrieved on March 30, 2011.
24. Johnson, David K. (2002). "Franklin E. Kameny (1925-)". In Bullough, Vern L. (ed.). Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context. New York: The Haworth Press. pp.  209–218. ISBN   978-1-56023-193-6.
25. Clerkin, Ben (January 23, 2024). "Meet the student suing Harvard over antisemitism". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
26. Timeline Theatre Company (2013), Timeline Theatre Company; The Normal Heart Study Guide (PDF), retrieved May 30, 2014
27. "Deaths: Sheldon Kushner". Jewish Press. September 25, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
28. "My Story: My Jewish Path And Rabbinic Path". Rabbi Sandra Lawson. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
29. "Rabbi Sandra Lawson named associate chaplain for Jewish life, Jewish educator at Hillel". E-Net! Elon University News & Information. June 20, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
30. "Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis on why she converted to Judaism 20 years ago and the role it plays in her life and work" (PDF). Better Newspaper Contest. Chicago Jewish News. July 5, 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
31. Kruckewitt, Joan (1999). The Death of Ben Linder. Seven Stories Press.
32. "Ken Marcus". The Forward. November 12, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
33. Leef, George (July 11, 2018). "The New Head of the Office for Civil Rights Charts a Very Different Course". The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
34. Prescod-Weinstein, Chanda (July 29, 2015). "Hold Fast to Blackness". Medium . Retrieved April 8, 2019.
35. "Progressive Dean Preston squeaks out win over mayor's ally in District 5 supes race". sfchronicle.com. November 10, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
36. R. Reiner — ^[ permanent dead link ] "Reiner, however, said Gibson also must do some "major soul-searching." "It's not a matter of just apologizing for some words you've said," said Reiner, who is Jewish. "It's to really understand why it is you're anti-Semitic and where those feelings came from.""
37. Trymaine Lee (August 27, 2010). "Black and Jewish, and Seeing No Contradiction". The New York Times . Retrieved January 15, 2018.
38. Rizzo, Frank (February 2, 2010). ""Poltergeist"'s Zelda Rubinstein Dies; Starred in Hartford Project". Hartford Courant . Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
39. "FamilySearch.org".
40. Theodore Draper, The Roots of American Communism. New York: Viking Press, 1957; pp. 340-341.
41. Schrom Dye, Nancy, Rose Schneiderman Archived 2011-07-02 at the Wayback Machine , Papers of the Women's Trade Union League and Its Principal Leaders, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College, Research Publications, 1981
42. "NYCLU Executive Director Norman Siegel Steps Down To Run For Public Office". ACLU.org. February 26, 2001.
43. "Forward 50: Finding Inspiration in the Year of Trump". The Forward. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
44. Dias, Marley (April 9, 2018). "Naomi Wadler Is the 11-Year-Old Activist You Need to Know". Elle . Retrieved January 2, 2019.
45. Louis Waldman, Labor Lawyer. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1944; pp. 11, 19-21.
46. Ross, Ross (April 8, 2007). "Rebecca Walker bringing message to Expo". Pensacola News Journal. Archived from the original on July 5, 2007. Retrieved April 8, 2007.
47. Frommer, Rachel (June 13, 2017). "Embattled Evergreen State Professor Accused of Hiding Racism Behind His Judaism". Algemeiner Journal . Retrieved February 1, 2019.
48. Kahn, Ellie (February 16, 2015). "Harold Willens, the Life of a Peace Activist". Jewish Journal. Retrieved August 16, 2020.