Research Guides: Yuri Kochiyama: Biography

Yuri Kochiyama (May 19, 1921 - June 1, 2014)

Yuri was not afraid to learn about and stand by the most radical visions of a transformed and egalitarian society. In October 1963, when Yuri first met Malcolm X, she was a middle-aged mother of six who opposed his views on integration — and told him so. But she was willing to listen and learn from him and others whose life experiences differed from her own. With intensity but surprising ease, she immersed herself in Malcolm’s world and soon adopted the politics of national liberation, struggles for land rights and self-determination. In the late 1960s, she joined the Republic of New Africa. She fiercely defended political prisoners. She supported Puerto Rican activists fighting for national independence. She visited and defended socialist Cuba and visited Peru as part of a delegation to defend the imprisoned leader of the country’s communist rebel group Shining Path. She called for black reparations alongside Japanese American redress. Continue . . .

Source: Fujino, Diane C.“How Will We Remember Yuri?” Hyphen Magazine, no. 28, Fall 2014, p. 66. From Academic Search Complete database.

Books

Resources

Consciousness Is Power The article presents a speech by Yuri Kochiyama, a committed activist against injustice, entitled "Consciousness Is Power," presented at the annual Asian American Convocation in Providence, Rhode Island on November 3, 1995, about the history of the Asian-American movement, celebration of their culture and heritage as well as the fight towards racism.
Working Outside the System The article profiles African American historical figure Yuri Kochiyama. Kochiyama is so well known for her warmth and sincerity. Born Mary Nakahara in 1922, Yuri was raised in a small port town near Los Angeles, California. Her youth was a sheltered, middle-class existence in a U.S. neighborhood that included sports and teaching Sunday school.
Song for An Asian American Radical: Yuri Kochiyama The poem "Song for An Asian American Radical: Yuri Kochiyama" by David Mura is presented. First Line: I open the door; Last Line: night after night.
Facing History The article highlights the Asian American activists in the U.S. It mentions Corky Lee, the people's photographer, known for his work that catalyzes the burgeoning Asian American movement in the early 1970s, Nobuko Miyamoto and Charlie Chin, veterans of civil rights movement helped unified Asian American identity through their music. It also cites Yuri Kochiyama who helped free political prisoners and protested in the involvement of the U.S. in the Vietnam war.
Yuri Kochiyama, Activist And Former World War II Internee, Dies At 93 Japanese-American activist Yuri Kochiyama has died of natural causes in Berkeley, Calif., at age 93. The lifelong champion of civil rights causes in the black, Latino, Native American and Asian-American communities died peacefully in her sleep Sunday morning, according to her family....
Spaces of Mobilization: The Asian American/Pacific Islander Struggle for Social Justice Article by Adalberto Aguirre Jr. and Shoon Lio.
AAPI Civil Rights Heroes - Yuri Kochiyama Yuri Kochiyama is a tireless political activist who has dedicated her life to contributing to social change through her participation in social justice and human rights movements. She was born and raised in San Pedro, California but spent two years in a concentration camp in Jerome, Arkansas during World War II. Following the war, she moved to New York and married Bill Kochiyama, veteran of the all-Japanese American 442nd combat unit of the U.S. Army.
Remembering Civil Rights Leader Yuri Kochiyama Yuri Kochiyama was 20 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and her family was relocated to an internment camp. When she emerged, she moved to Harlem and became an outspoken activist who rallied for the rights of women, ethnic minorities, homosexuals and political prisoners, and formed a tight friendship with Malcolm X. "I didn't wake up and decide to become an activist," she said. "But you couldn't help notice the injustices. It was all around you." She passed away on June 1 in Berkeley. We look at her life and legacy as a civil rights leader....
Yuri Kochiyama Interview 2009 Segment: "What did you do in the War, Mama?: Kochiyama's Crusaders This is an excerpt from our 2008 all-day interview with Yuri Kochiyama, renowned human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee for this film-in-progress “What did you do in the War, Mama?: Kochiyama’s Crusaders.” She is reading missives she and others wrote to soldiers during World War II while imprisoned in an "internment camp" (aka "concentration camp") in the U.S. because of their Japanese heritage. As a young woman in love at age 20, Yuri founded “The Crusaders”—a women’s correspondence campaign that included booklets designed by Yuri which could be sent to any soldier who needed a letter. This clip is unedited due to our lack of editing equipment which has held this project back for the past 2 years. Shot by Chong Lee. Interviewer: Marlan Warren. The film grew out of Warren's play, "Bits of Paradise" which featured verbatim letters from The Crusaders Scrapbook in the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles. The film will weave together moments of World War II-Japanese American History, Art, Activism, Love and Passion to honor The Crusaders--girls and women of the Japanese American internment camps who embarked on a war effort to boost the morale of “any soldier in need of a letter” during World War II. More details at website: http://tinyurl.com/YuriFilm The Crusaders included women and girls of all ages who supported the Japanese American fighting men with hopeful missives until V-Day released them all from bondage. Their courageous story is still relevant today. In her last letter on V-Day, Nakahara/Kochiyama wrote: “How will you know a Crusader when you see her after the War? Just look for anyone who is fighting for something bigger than themselves."
Densho Oral History - Yuri Kochiyama Yuri Kochiyama describes hearing about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This clip is an excerpt from Yuri Kochiyama's oral history interview conducted July 21, 2009 (denshovh-kyuri-01-0004). To see the complete interview, visit the Densho Digital Archive (http://www.densho.org/archive).