Emma Goldman was an anarchist, ardent proponent of birth control and free speech, a feminist, a lecturer, and a writer. She was known as Red Emma both for her heritage and her political involvement.

Goldman became one of the most outspoken and well-known American radicals. Her core beliefs were informed in part from a Jewish tradition that championed the pursuit of universal justice. She served prison and jail terms for her activism including: advising the unemployed to take bread if their pleas for food were not answered; giving information in a lecture on birth control, “inciting to riot” and for opposing military conscription.