Yuri Kochiyama

American activist

Yuri Kochiyama (formerly Mary Yuriko Nakahara; May 19, 1921 - June 1, 2014) was a Japanese-American civil rights activist. This passion led her to initiate reparations for interned Japanese-Americans during World War 2.[1] As one of the thousands of Japanese-Americans sent to concentration camps, she felt strongly about the cause. The imprisonment and death of her father helped her to become an advocate for the oppressed. She stood for and admired other activists such as Malcolm X, Che Guevarra, Patrice Lumumba, and Fidel Castro.[2] Specifically, Kochiyama was friends with Malcolm X, an African-American human rights activist in the 1960s. She was a part of Malcolm's Organization of Afro-American Unity, and took part in the film Death of a Prophet, where she played herself. [3] Later in her career, Yuri Kochiyama was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

Yuri Kochiyama
Born
Mary Yuriko Nakahara

(1921-05-19)May 19, 1921
Died(2014-06-01)June 1, 2014
OccupationCivil rights activist

References

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  1. Paul, Elias (9 Jun 2014). "Yuri Kochiyama". The Independent.
  2. Davis, Jack (26 Mar 2022). "White House celebrates radical Maoist who openly admired Osama bin Laden after 9/11". The Western Journal.
  3. Herb, Boyd (2014). "Remembering Yuri Kochiyama, Civil Rights Activist and Malcolm X Ally: The Japanese-American activist, who died Sunday at 93, rushed to Malcolm X's side after he was shot--and was no means a quiet bystander in the civil rights struggle". The Daily Beast, New York: The Newsweek/Daily Beast Company.