This is a list of notable

Jewish American American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by religion, ethnicity, culture, or nationality. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who descend from diaspora Je ...

activists Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

. For other Jewish Americans, see Lists of Jewish Americans.

A

Dinah Abrahamson Dinah Abrahamson (1954December 17, 2013) was an American author and politician. A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Abrahamson was a member of the Nebraska State Central Committee as well as an active member of the Republican Party. She was also known ...

(1954–2013), politician and activist for the African-American Lubavitch community *

Martin Abern Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

(1898–1949), communist youth movement leader *

Bernard Ades Bernard Ades (July 3, 1903 – May 27, 1986) was an American Communist who is most known for his defense of Euel Lee, an African American accused of murdering a white family in Maryland in 1931. During a murder trial which was still heavily infl ...

(1903–1986), civil rights lawyer *

Lori Alhadeff Lori Alhadeff ('' née'' Robinovitz; born February 11, 1975) is an American activist, member of the Broward County School Board, and founder of school-safety organization Make Our Schools Safe. Her 14-year-old daughter, Alyssa Alhadeff, was murde ...

(born 1975), school safety activist *

Saul Alinsky Saul David Alinsky (January 30, 1909 – June 12, 1972) was an American community activist and political theorist. His work through the Chicago-based Industrial Areas Foundation helping poor communities organize to press demands upon landlords ...

(1909–1972), community activist and theorist *

Gloria Allred Gloria Rachel Allred ( Bloom; born July 3, 1941) is an American attorney known for taking high-profile and often controversial cases, particularly those involving the protection of women's rights. She has been inducted into the National Women's ...

(born 1941), lawyer and radio talk show host * Lindsay Amer, LGBTQ Youtuber and activist

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* Michael Berg (born 1945), environmental activist and Green Party candidate

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Maximilian Cohen Maximilian "Max" Cohen was an American socialist politician of the early 20th century. Cohen held a series of important posts during the pivotal year of 1919, including Secretary of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party for Local Greater N ...

, American Socialist Party leader * Zipporah Michelbacher Cohen (1853 – 1944) American civic leader

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Serge Dedina Serge Dedina is the current mayor of Imperial Beach, California and Executive Director of Wildcoast, a non-profit environmentalist group. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected 18th Mayor of Imperial Beach in 2014. Personal life Dedi ...

, environmental activist and politician

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Abraham Feinberg Abraham Feinberg (14 September 1899 – 5 October 1986) was an American rabbi who lived much of his life in Canada. In his obituary, ''The New York Times'' declared about him: "He was always ready to march, lend his name or send a telegram if there ...

, anti-Vietnam war activist *

Leslie Feinberg Leslie Feinberg (September 1, 1949 – November 15, 2014) was an American butch lesbian, transgender activist, communist, and author. Feinberg authored '' Stone Butch Blues'' in 1993.

, communist butch lesbian transgender organizer. *

Ada Fisher Ada M. Fisher (October 21, 1947 – October 7, 2022) was an American physician from Salisbury, North Carolina, and a frequent Republican candidate for office. She challenged incumbent Mel Watt in North Carolina's 12th Congressional district in ...

(1947–2022), physician and perennial issues candidate *

Clara Fraser Clara Fraser (March 12, 1923 – February 24, 1998) was a socialist feminist political organizer, who co-founded and led the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. Biography Early life and activism Clara Fraser was born in 1923 to Jewis ...

, founder of

Radical Women Radical Women (RW) is a socialist feminist grassroots activist organization affiliated with the Freedom Socialist Party. It has branches in Seattle, Washington, and Melbourne, Australia. History Radical Women emerged in Seattle from a "Free Univ ...

and the

Freedom Socialist Party The Freedom Socialist Party is a left-wing socialist political party with a revolutionary feminist philosophy based in the United States. It views the struggles of women and minorities as part of the struggle of the working class. It emerged fro ...

Raffi Freedman-Gurspan Raffi Freedman-Gurspan (born May 3, 1987 in Intibucá, Honduras) is an Honduran American transgender rights activist and the first openly transgender person to work as a White House staffer. She was also the first openly transgender legislative st ...

, LGBTQ activist and first openly transgender White House staffer *

Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...

(1921–2006), feminist writer and women's movement activist * Sandra Froman, President of the National Rifle Association (NRA), second female president and first Jewish president

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Alicia Garza Alicia Garza (born January 4, 1981) is an American civil rights activist and writer known for co-founding the international Black Lives Matter movement. She has organized around the issues of health, student services and rights, rights for dome ...

(born 1981), civil rights and Black Lives Matter activist *

Pamela Geller Pamela Geller (born 1958) is an American anti-Muslim, far-right, political activist, blogger and commentator. Geller promoted birther conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama, saying that he was born in Kenya and that he is a Muslim. Sh ...

, pro-Israel activist, author, commentator * Sally Gottesman, consultant for non-profits

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Dario Hunter Dario David Hunter (born April 21, 1983), also known as Yisroel Hunter, is an American rabbi, lawyer and politician. He is the first Muslim-born man to be ordained as a rabbi. A former member of the Youngstown, Ohio Board of Education, Hunter sou ...

(born 1983), environmental activist attorney and first Muslim-born man to be ordained a rabbi

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Rashida Jones Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series ''Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and as ...

(born 1976), actress, director, writer, and peace activist

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* Franklin E. Kameny, gay rights leader *

Larry Kramer Laurence David Kramer (June 25, 1935May 27, 2020) was an American playwright, author, film producer, public health advocate, and gay rights activist. He began his career rewriting scripts while working for Columbia Pictures, which led him to Lo ...

(1935–2020), LGBT rights activist and playwright * Julie Kushner (born 1952), trade union organizer

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Sandra Lawson Sandra Lawson (born 1970) is a rabbi and the first Director of Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Reconstructing Judaism. She previously served as Associate Chaplain for Jewish Life at Elon University. Lawson became the first openly gay, fema ...

(born 1970), social justice activist and the first ever openly gay black female rabbi *

Karen Lewis (labor leader) Karen Lewis ( Jennings; July 20, 1953 – February 7, 2021) was an American educator and labor leader who served as president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Chicago's division of the American Federation of Teachers, from 2010 to 2014. Fo ...

(1953–2021), educator and labor leader *

Ben Linder Benjamin Ernest "Ben" Linder (July 7, 1959 – April 28, 1987), was an American engineer. While working on a small hydroelectric dam in rural northern Nicaragua, Linder was killed by the Contras, a loose confederation of rebel groups funded by t ...

(1959–1987), engineer and internationalist murdered by

Contras The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to 1990 in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua, which came to power in 1979 fol ...

while working on hydroelectric projects in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Mark Levin Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and rad ...

(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.

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* Kenneth L. Marcus, an attorney and activist who founded the

Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (LDB) is a nonprofit organization founded by Kenneth L. Marcus in 2012 to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all. LDB is active on American campus ...

and former Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights in the administration of President Donald Trump.

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* Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, cosmologist, science writer, and equality activist *

Dean Preston Dean E. Preston (born ) is an American attorney and member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He founded Tenants Together, a California tenant advocacy organization. In November 2019, Preston won a special election to finish Mayor Londo ...

, member of San Francisco Board of Supervisors, civil rights attorney and tenant rights advocate

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Rob Reiner Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performanc ...

, actor, director, producer, writer and anti-tobacco activist; son of Carl Reiner *

Shais Rishon Shais Rishon, also known by the pen name MaNishtana, is an African-American Orthodox rabbi, activist, and writer. He has written for ''Tablet'', '' Kveller'', ''The Forward'', ''Jewcy'', and '' Hevria'', as well as writing a semi-autobiographic ...

, rabbi and anti-racism activist *

David A Rose (judge) David Allan Rose (1906–April 29, 1995) was an American lawyer and judge who served as a Massachusetts state court judge for more than 40 years and active in many community and civil rights organizations. He was a judge of the Massachusetts ...

(1906–1995), activist for human rights and against anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish bias *

Zelda Rubinstein Zelda May Rubinstein (May 28, 1933 – January 27, 2010) was an American actress and human rights activist, known as eccentric medium Tangina Barrons in the ''Poltergeist'' film series. Playing "Ginny", she was a regular on David E. Kelley's Emmy ...

(1933–2010), actress and human rights activist

S

Max Shachtman Max Shachtman (; September 10, 1904 – November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. He went from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL–CIO President George Meany. Beginnings S ...

, American Marxist and labor activist *

Rose Schneiderman Rose Schneiderman (April 6, 1882 – August 11, 1972) was a Polish-born American socialist and feminist, and one of the most prominent female labor union leaders. As a member of the New York Women's Trade Union League, she drew attention to uns ...

(1882–1972), sociologist, feminist activist, and labor union leader * Robert E Segal, activist for displaced people; for housing for

Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants. Overview The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...

against discrimination and against anti Semitism. *

Norman Siegel Norman Siegel is the former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), New York City, New York's leading civil rights organization, under the umbrella of the nationwide American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), as well as a ...

(born 1943), civil liberties activist and attorney *

Michael Signer Michael Signer is an American attorney, author, and politician who served as mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia. Early life and education Signer is the son of Marjorie B. Signer, a communications director, and Robert Signer, a newspaper assignm ...

, attorney and politician

W

Naomi Wadler Naomi Wadler (born October 16, 2006) is an American student and activist against gun violence. She has made speeches advocating for victims of gun violence in the United States, especially black female victims, most notably at the pro-gun control ...

(born 2006), student activist against gun violence *

Louis Waldman Louis Waldman (January 5, 1892 – September 12, 1982) was a leading figure in the Socialist Party of America from the late 1910s and through the middle 1930s, a founding member of the Social Democratic Federation, and a prominent New York labo ...

(1892–1982), labor lawyer and founding member of the Social Democratic Federation *

Rebecca Walker Rebecca Walker (born November 17, 1969, as Rebecca Leventhal) is an American writer, feminist, and activist. Walker has been regarded as one of the prominent voices of Third Wave Feminism, and the coiner of the term "third wave", since publish ...

(born 1969), feminist writer *

Bret Weinstein Bret Samuel Weinstein (; born February 21, 1969) is an American podcaster, author, and former professor of evolutionary biology. He served on the faculty of Evergreen State College from 2002 until 2017, when he resigned in the aftermath of a s ...

, biology professor and free speech advocate * Harold Willens (1914–2003), anti-nuclear weapons activist

Footnotes

{{reflist Jewish society

Activists Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

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See also

Footnotes