Leslie Lowe
Published in The New Orleans Advocate
April 21, 2018

Enter Stage Left: July 14, 1951. Exit Stage Right: Nov. 22, 2017. "You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way... to get in the way." - Rep John Lewis. Leslie sure got in the way, all the time, throughout her life. Some people liked it, some didn't, but she never stopped trying to make a difference right until the end.

Leslie Lowe was born in Queens, NY, grew up in the New York metropolitan area, lived in West Greenwich Village in Manhattan and, for the last five years, was a proud actively involved resident of the Treme in New Orleans. She was the daughter of the late Hon. Mary Johnson Lowe, of the Southern District of New York, and beloved stepdaughter of the late Ivan A. Michael, Esq. of New York, New York.

Leslie was an African American attorney; a graduate of Bennington College, Columbia University School of Journalism, University of Paris-Sorbonne, and Harvard Law School. She was a fierce fighter for social justice, whose work focused on corporate and governmental accountability as well as environmental law and policy.

Most recently, she worked as program officer at the Rockefeller Family Fund, where she was instrumental in the fossil fuels divestment decision and engaged in projects like the Rural Electric Co-op Democracy Project in Alabama.

She worked for corporate accountability at the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility and, as Executive Director of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, she fought back when NYC tried to bulldoze the public gardens and blew the whistle when NYC would not recognize the damage that pollution was causing to communities of color.

Leslie was active with many organizations in New Orleans and the South as well. She did it all while still managing to have a great deal of fun, enjoying family, friends, gin martinis, dancing, music, good food, and lately, New Orleans. She leaves behind many grieving friends and family, including her brother, Edward H. Lowe, M.D., sister, Bess J. Michael, Esq., sister-in-law, Lynda D. Lowe, niece, Jennifer R. Anderson, and beloved grandniece, Kendall Joy Anderson.