Feminist, activist and author Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, described by longtime partner Leslie Cagan as "living and breathing the dynamic movements of her time," died July 10, the New York Times reported. She was 72. Cagan said that Kaye/Kantrowitz, who "formed her surname by combining her Anglicized name at birth with her family's earlier name, which she reclaimed as an adult--helped shape new ways of thinking about Jewish identity as well as the intersections of race, class and gender, 'before folks used the term intersectionality.' "
Kaye/Kantrowitz's books include The Tribe of Dina (1989), an anthology of Jewish women's writings that she edited with Irena Klepfisz; The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism (2007); My Jewish Face and Other Stories (1990); and The Issue Is Power: Essays on Women, Jews, Violence and Resistance (1995).
In the early 1990s, Kaye/Kantrowitz became the first director of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, an organization that defines its mission as 'to fight for systemic change and a just world." She later served on its board.
"Melanie believed in the core goodness of people," Cagan said. "She also deeply believed in the power of art, the power of the written word and the power of collective action."