Do Yuri Kochiyama’s life experiences explain her political consciousness, solidarity, and activism?

This chapter explores the life of Asian American activist Yuri Kochiyama (1921–2014). It traces her life from a US concentration camp during World War II to marriage and community service in New York City in the postwar period. Working with Malcolm X and his associates in Harlem, New York City, had a dramatic impact on her political consciousness. When the Asian American Movement emerged, Kochiyama was one of its leaders. Based in Harlem, New York City, she helped develop ethnic studies and improve conditions locally, while opposing the war in Vietnam and the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In a life committed to liberation, her most compelling work helped to support political prisoners of consciousness. Through the life of a single activist, this chapter illuminates the collaboration of the Asian American and Black political movements in the United States. It also explores how Kochiyama’s life experiences with displacement and racism motivated her to create change through community actions and political solidarity.