Yuri Kochiyama
| Yuri Kochiyama | |
|---|---|
Kochiyama at Central Park anti-war demonstration circa 1968
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|
| Born |
Mary Yuriko Nakahara May 19, 1921 San Pedro, California, U.S. |
| Died | June 1, 2014 (aged 93) Berkeley, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Spouse(s) | Bill Kochiyama (m. 1946–1993; his death) |
| Children | 6 |
 "The Violent End of the Man Called Malcolm", LIFE, March 5, 1965. Photo of Kochiyama cradling the dying Malcolm X's head. |
Yuri Kochiyama (May 19, 1921 – June 1, 2014) was an American activist. Influenced by her Japanese American 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 over her past statements expressing admiration for figures such as Osama bin Laden.
Mary Yuriko Nakahara was born on May 19, 1921, in San Pedro, California, to Japanese immigrants Seiichi Nakahara, a fish merchant entrepreneur, and Tsuyako (Sawaguchi) Nakahara, a college-educated homemaker and piano teacher. She had a twin brother, Peter, and an older brother, Arthur. Her family was relatively affluent and she grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood. In her youth she attended a Presbyterian church and taught Sunday school. Kochiyama attended San Pedro High School, where she served as the first female student body officer, wrote for the school newspaper, and played on the tennis team. She graduated from high school in 1939. She attended Compton Junior College, where she studied English, journalism, and art. Kochiyama graduated from Compton in 1941.
Her life changed on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese Empire bombed Pearl Harbor. Soon after she returned home from church, FBI agents arrested her father as a potential threat to national security. He was in poor health, having just come out of hospital. The FBI were suspicious of photographs of Japanese naval ships found in the family home and his friendship with prominent Japanese, including Ambassador Kichisaburō Nomura. Nakahara's six-week detention aggravated his health problems, and by the time he was released on January 20, 1942, he had become too sick to speak. Her father died the day after his release.
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