LESLIE CAGAN is an American activist writer and socialist organizer, born on this date; Cagan is 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 and the former interim chair of Pacifica Radio National Board.

Cagan was born in The Bronx, New York City, in what she described as a “pink diaper,” Jewish family. She attended her first political events as a young child in the 1950s, accompanied by her parents, who had briefly been members of the Communist Party. Her grandmother, a seamstress, was a founding member of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union. She graduated from New York University in 1968 with a degree in art history.

In 1969, Cagan was among the first participants of the Venceremos Brigade, groups of young adults who visit Cuba and participate in agriculture and other work. 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.”

After choosing to skip graduate school, Cagan began her lifetime career as an organizer in social change struggles, predominantly in the anti-war movement, the anti-nuclear movement, the LGBT rights movement, the feminist movement, and normalization of relations with Cuba. 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.”

Cagan has a long history of anti-racism and anti-repression work, supporting members of the Black Panther Party, organizing against Grand Jury abuses and efforts calling for changes in policing. 

In June 1982, Cagan was the lead organizer of the anti-nuclear rally held in New York City, attended by one million of activists, and others from all walks of life. She helped organize the 1987 protest for gay and lesbian rights. In 2002, Cagan was among the founders of United for Peace and Justice, a coalition of more than 1,400 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. 

An opponent of military intervention, Cagan strongly opposes U.S. military forces staying in Iraq. 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.” She strongly supports the call for an end to Israeli apartheid policies.

Cagan co-founded the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. In 1997, she was an organizer of the U.S. delegation of 900 young people for the 14th annual World Festival of Youth and Students. 

She has a long history of organizing in the feminist movement and the LGBTQI+ movement, including working on the Queer Liberation March held in New York City in 2019, on the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. In 2004, Cagan was included in Out magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential LGBT people.

She lived in Brooklyn, and the Queens, New York, with her partner, author and activist Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz (d. 2018), founding director of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice.

Cagan has been quoted saying she believes the two greatest dangers that humanity faces are nuclear weapons and climate change, stating that,

The climate crisis and militarism are linked in many ways, not the least of which is the massive use of fossil fuel energy used by the U.S. military to maintain their base levels of operation which has an enormous impact on the climate. And then there are wars for oil (Iraq and Afghanistan for example) and the climate destruction unleashed in all war zones.