THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, Ph.D.

September 9, 1945 – July 10, 2018

“I want a button that says Pushy Jew. Loud Pushy Jew. Loud Pushy Jew Dyke.” – Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, The Issue is Power: Essays on Women, Jews, Violence and Resistance, 1992

Lesbian-feminist writer, editor, educator, activist. Helped shape new ways of thinking about Jewish identity, intersections of race, class and gender. Active in Civil Rights Movement, 1960s. Published essays and poems on issues including: Jews and whiteness; multiracial Jewish community; radical Jewish history, including women’s history; African American-Jewish relations; and racism, anti-Semitism, and class. Co-chair, New Jewish Agenda Task Force on Anti-Semitism and Racism. Founding director, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), New York City, 1990; board member, 1995-2004. Co-founder of “Beyond the Pale: The Progressive Jewish Radio Hour” in New York City, 1995. Taught first women’s studies class, University of California, Berkeley. Taught urban studies, race theory, public policy, Jewish studies, gender and queer studies.

Photo. Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz (left) and Esther Kaplan, JFREJ event, 1990s.