Written by: Alice La
Artwork by: Sheryl Fong
The Civil Rights Movement sparked many lasting changes to American society’s discriminatory practices, bringing together marginalized communities in ways that had never been seen before. Amongst the many figures who spearheaded the movement, Yuri Kochiyama (she, her, hers) is a Japanese American activist who fought for Black, Latino, Native American, and Asian American visibility, inspiring future generations through her tireless fight for liberation.
Yuri Kochiyama was born in 1921 in San Pedro, California, as Mary Yuriko Nakahara. Following the World War II Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, her father died while being detained in a hospital post-surgery, and Kochiyama was forced to relocate to an internment camp in Arkansas. These two events made her acutely aware of the government’s racist and oppressive tactics, opening her eyes to different social issues.
After the war ended, Kochiyama married Bill Kochiyama and relocated to New York City. She lived in housing projects alongside her black and Puerto Rican neighbors, and became interested in the ongoing civil rights movement after spending time at the Harlem Freedom School. Her friendship with Malcolm X was a turning point for her activism, shifting her focus to black nationalism and replacing her fight for
integration with that of “total liberation.” She joined the Organization for Afro-American Unity and was present at Malcom X’s tragic passing in 1965.
Kochiyama became a member of the Republic of New Africa, a militant Black nationalist organization, and founded Asian Americans for Action in order to connect the Asian American movement with the ongoing struggle for Black liberation. In 1969 Kochiyama also joined the Young Lords Party, fighting for the empowerment and self-determination of Puerto Rican, Latino, and colonized communities and later co-founded Asians for Mumia, helping protest against black political activist Mumia Abu-Jamal’s arrest.
In the 1980s Kochiyama pushed for the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, demanding reparations and a formal apology from the government for Japanese American internment. This act was eventually signed by President Reagan, propelling Kochiyama’s work within the Asian American social justice movement. She related Japanese American history to the alarm surrounding WWII incarceration camps to the racism faced by Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians during a speech in September 2001, commenting on the bigger issue of US imperialism.
Kochiyama’s legacy rings truer now than ever before, especially considering today’s political atmosphere of heightened divisions and differences . We must “fight against racism and polarization, [learning] from each others’ [struggles].” Our individual experiences remain valuable, but it’s important to remember that there are issues we can all work together on, issues that require a collective to inspire national change. Kochiyama’s second cousin, Tim Toyama, states that “she was definitely ahead of her time, and we caught up with her.” However, we cannot remain satisfied with catching up and must continue to push forward, taking responsibility for our shared futures.
I personally never learned about Yuri Kochiyama or many other Asian American figures involved in the Civil Rights Movement during my time in high school. This goes to show how there is still a lot of American history that is overlooked by mainstream society, and underscores how essential it is that we take the initiative to remember the legacies of these key, marginalized figures. Memory is a form of protest.
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