Yuri Kochiyama
By Altai Ozkan
For Women’s History Month, I will be writing about Yuri Kochiyama. Yuri Kochiyama was most known for dedicating her life to political activism, in which she contributed to social change via social justice and human civil rights movements.
Kochiyama became highly aware of governmental abuses after her father’s death and being sent to a concentration camp in Arkansas with the rest of her family. Her father’s death was very tragic since he was just out of surgery after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was then arrested and detained in a hospital, being labeled as “Prisoner of War” just for being Japanese.
After her family was released from the concentration camp, Kochiyama moved to New York and married Bill Kochiyama. Her activism starter in the early 1960s, originating in Harlem. She participated in Asian American, Black, and Third World movements for civil and human rights. She also participated in ethnic studies and protested against the war in Vietnam. Kochiyama founded Asian Americans for Action, and sought to link Asian American and African American struggles. She became close friends with Malcolm X in 1963, who changed her life and outlook on life dramatically. This was especially after her involvement in his movement called Afro-American Unity. Unfortunately, Kochiyama was present the day Malcolm X was tragically shot and killed in 1965. She was found later to be cradling his head in a picture in a Life magazine article.
In the 1980s, Kochiyama worked in the redress and reparations movement for Japanese-Americans. On top of this, she supported African American, Puerto Rican, Native American, Asian American, and progressive white political prisoners. Overall, Kochiyama helped unite people, bridged movements, and influenced many to cultivate relationships. She was a true human rights activist. Unfortunately, she passed away on June 1, 2014.
