Leslie Cagan

Leslie Cagan is an American activist, writer, and socialist organizer involved with the peace and social justice movements. She is the former national coordinator of United for Peace and Justice, the former co-chair of Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.

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. 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. Her grandmother, a seamstress, was a founding member of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union. 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." She has protested the conviction and incarceration of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Black Panther Party member who was sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner.

Cagan was a lead organizer of the massive anti-nuclear rally held in New York City's Central Park on June 12, 1982, in which one million people turned out to protest the revival of the nuclear arms race under President Ronald Reagan. In 1987, she was co-chair of the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. In 1997, she was an organizer for the 14th annual World Festival of Youth and Students.

In the mid-1990s and early 2000s, Cagan served on the national board of directors of Pacifica Radio (representing Pacifica's New York station, WBAI), including a brief term in the late 1990s as the interim board chair.

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 described as "our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building." The organization was founded in the months preceding the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Cagan was strongly opposed to U.S. military forces staying in Iraq. 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." 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."

In 2004, Cagan was included in Out magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential LGBT people.

Personal life Cagan lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her partner, author and activist Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz (d. 2018), founding director of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice.

Works