Yuri Kochiyama (1921-2014) was a Japanese American political activist who dedicated
her life to social change through participation in various movements.
Kochiyama was raised in San Pedro, California, but was sent to a concentration camp with her family for two years in 1943 under the Executive Order 9066. This order, issued by Franklin Roosevelt, forcibly removed people in the U.S. who were deemed a "threat" from their homes and into concentration camps. As a result of Pearl Harbor, the people who were considered a threat to the security of the U.S. were Japanese people. Regardless of citizenship status, Japanese residents were sent to poor quality shelters with limited care and forced labor. From this experience, Kochiyama became aware of the depths of the political struggles people like her face by the government. As an advocate, she demanded compensation for the incarcerations of Japanese Americans and the struggles faced from the internment camps. This led to the Civil Liberties Act in 1988. One of the features of this act included a $20,000 restitution to each survivor, which Kochiyama used towards her fight for African Americans.
In the early 1960s, Kochiyama began her engagement in social justice through
movements for civil rights and movements against the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war. In Harlem, Kochiyama became close with Malcolm X; she is well known for cradling Malcolm X’s head in the tragic assassination in 1965. After the assassination, Kochiyama
became more involved in the fight for civil rights and joined the Republic of New Africa, a black nationalist organization demanding reparations for the injustices faced as well as safe voting rights. Besides this, Kochiyama was also involved in the Young Lords Party, a political group fighting for the independence of Puerto Rico. Through this, she was one of the participants in the Statue of Liberty Storming in 1977. A significant part of her work included supporting and helping free political prisoners of all ethnicities.
While Yuri Kochiyama started off with Japanese American advocacies after experiencing personal injustice, she branched out and became a human rights activist working with diverse people and various movements. Since Yuri Kochiyama passing on June 1, 2014, she continues to gain respect and admiration for her lifelong work as a social justice and human rights activist.
- Stephanie Moon