[NEWS] Farewell, Yuri Kochiyama

The world reeled a bit late yesterday evening with the 
news that prominent Japanese-American freedom fighter
Yuri Kochiyama made her transition in Berkley, California
at the age of 93. Kochiyama dedicated her life to activism
early on after she & her family were detained in a WWII
internment camp, where she met her late husband, Bill
Kochiyama. They soon moved to New York City and
took up the cause of fighting for civil rights living among
their Black and Latino neighbors. That led Yuri to working
with Black Nationalists and Malcolm X. A fateful alliance
that ended with his assasination and Yuri running to him
at that moment, cradling his head in her lap. She was a
staunch activist from that point for the rights of all people
and an inspiring figure for all Americans, if not all citizens
of the globe.

Here are a few clips of Yuri Kochiyama imparting her
wisdom:

Yuri on her WWII Internment experience and
her association with Malcolm X for Democracy Now


Yuri Kochiyama ‘Freedom Is A Constant Struggle’

 

Yuri Kochiyama at Laney College, 2002.