Mary Yuriko (Nakahara) Kochiyama (1921 - 2014)

Born 19 May 1921 in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, United States

Died 1 Jun 2014 at age 93 in Berkeley, Alameda, California, United States

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Biography

Yuri (Nakahara) Kochiyama was a part of the Civil Rights Movement.

Yuri (Nakahara) Kochiyama is Notable.

Yuri Kochiyama was a Japanese American human rights activist.

Mary Yuriko Nakahara and her twin brother Peter were born May 19, 1921, in San Pedro, California, USA. She was the daughter of Seiichi Nakahara, a fish merchant entrepreneur, and Tsuyako Sawaguchi, a college-educated homemaker and piano teacher.^[1][2] Yuri traveled with her family to visit relatives in Japan in 1922.^[3] The family made another trip in 1927.^[4]

She was incarcerated at the Jerome (Arkansas) War Relocation Center^[5] with other Japanese Americans during World War II.^[6]

Best known for her friendship with Malcolm X (and the famous photo of her kneeling over him after he was assassinated), Yuri Kochiyama was a revolutionary in her own right. Her relatively privileged childhood came to an abrupt end when her father was arrested by the FBI immediately after Pearl Harbor. After six weeks in detention, which aggravated existing health conditions, Kochiyama’s father died upon his release. Imprisoned in Jerome, Arkansas, during the war, she relocated to New York with her family and adopted increasingly radical political views as she became active in Asian Americans for Action (AAA) and other civil rights organizations.

Kochiyama came into contact with the civil rights movement through Malcolm X, and she continued to work with black nationalist groups well past his 1965 assassination—supporting political prisoners and building coalitions between black and Asian American activists. She also advocated for nuclear disarmament, an end to the Vietnam War, Japanese American redress, Puerto Rican independence, and many other issues until her death in 2014.

She was featured in the Google Doodle for the 95th anniversary of her birth: https://www.google.com/doodles/yuri-kochiyamas-95th-birthday

Sources

1. ↑ "California Birth Index, 1905-1995," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VG6M-9LT : accessed 19 May 2016), Yuri Nakahara, 19 May 1921; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC89-KWX : accessed 19 May 2016), Mary Nakahara in entry for Seuchi Nakahara, 1930.
3. ↑ "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5B-S416 : accessed 20 May 2016), Yuri Nakahara, 1922; citing Passport Application, California, United States, source certificate #118430, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 1832, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,704,491.
4. ↑ "California, San Francisco Passenger Lists, 1893-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KX4B-7P2 : accessed 20 May 2016), Yuri Nakahara, 1927; citing San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1410 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 2,381,015.
5. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Jerome War Relocation Center," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jerome_War_Relocation_Center&oldid=725002396 (accessed June 12, 2016).
6. ↑ "United States Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1942-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KX2J-T2J : accessed 19 May 2016), Mary Y Nakahara, 1942-1946; citing Jerome, person number 03 23, file 955209, NARA NAID 1263921, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

• Wallace, Nina. 5 Japanese American Women Activists Left Out of History Books," Yes! Magazine, 27 Mar 2016.
• Wikipedia: Yuri Kochiyama
• Wikidata: Item Q8061525, en:Wikipedia