Yuri Kochiyama
Yuri Kochiyama
Yuri Kochiyamawas an American political activist. Influenced by her family's internment and her association with Malcolm X, she advocated for many causes, including Black separatism, the anti-war movement, Maoist revolution, reparations for Japanese-American internees, and the rights of people imprisoned by the U.S. government for violent offenses whom she considered to be "political prisoners". On May 19, 2016, she was featured on the U.S. Google Doodle, sparking controversy...
NationalityJapanese
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth19 May 1921
CountryJapan
I don't think there will ever be a time when people will stop wanting to bring about change.
First and foremost, you do not have to live up to or emulate the lives of any of your predecessors. But at the very least, you should know about them. You will have your own life, interests, and ideas of what you want or do not want in life. Do what you enjoy doing. Be honest with yourself and others. Don't think of satisfying anyone: your elders, peers, government, religion, or children who will come after you. Develop meaningful ideals, and become conscious of others, their existence, and their lives.
Projects meant living with blacks and Puerto Ricans, but that's what we wanted. Living in the projects, we've met so many wonderful, wonderful people.
When you're in a black group, you have to keep in mind you're not black. You just have to be sensitive. We have to be appreciative that the black nationalist struggle is a nationalist struggle.
I tell you, in this country, you don't get much of an education. Throughout high school, through junior college, which is all I went, I didn't know anything about the annihilation of all the Indian nations that were here.
I lived in San Pedro, California, which is, you know, on the west side of California, and it's where many, many Japanese lived.
People have a right to violence, to rebel, to fight back.
I didn't wake up and decide to become an activist. But you couldn't help notice the inequities, the injustices. It was all around you.
The most important thing today is to stop US wars.
We are all part of one another.
The movement is contagious, and the people in it are the ones who pass on the spirit.
People have a right to violence, to rebel, to fight back. And given what the United States Government and Western powers have done to the third world, I feel that these countries should fight back.
Remember that consciousness is power. Tomorrow's world is yours to build.
Our ultimate objective in learning about anything is to try to create and develop a more just society.