Have you heard of Yuri Kochiyama? She was a friend of Malcolm X and was there when he was murdered. She held his head as he layed dying. She met Malcolm in 1963 and joined his group the Organization for Afro-American Unity, to work for racial justice and human rights. She described herself as red, white, and blue as a child and didn’t know how bad racism was. But on the Sunday morning of December 7th, 1941 when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor obviously the people she assimilated to changed around her. At home, FBI agents came and ordered her to get her father. He was ill and recently had ulcer surgery, but they made him put on his slippers and bathrobe and took him away. He was released six weeks later, and died a day after being released from custody. The following year Japanese Americans were removed from their homes and placed in concentration camps. When the war ended she was able to return to her home, but she had trouble finding a job. She saw that Japanese people were widely seen as the “enemy” at the time. Yuri did not became an activist until the 1960s when she moved to Harlem as a middle-aged homemaker with six children. Her husband’s salary was limited so the family moved to a housing project in Harlem. Surrounded by black neighbors she became involved in struggles to improve schools and to end job discrimination. In the 1970s she joined Japanese American activists who called for the redress of their internment during World War II. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 made an official apology and authorized payments of $20,000 to former internees. Let’s end this with a quote from her, “Keep expanding your horizon, decolonize your mind, and cross borders.” Respect to Ms. Kochiyama’s legacy and her place in the struggle.
enemies too.