Yuri Kochiyama

Yuri Kochiyama (born 1921) is a US Japanese-American civil rights activist.

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Kochiyama was born Mary Nakahara in San Pedro, California. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Kochiyama's father was imprisoned the same day. Her family was among the interned Japanese-Americans and was sent to the internment camp in Arkansas. Two of her brothers joined the US Army.

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In 1960 Kochiyama and her husband Bill moved to Harlem, New York City, and joined the Harlem Parents Committee. She got acquainted with Malcolm X and was present when he was assassinated.

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In 1977 Kochiyama joined the group of Puerto Ricans that took over the Statue of Liberty to draw attentions to situation in Puerto Rico.

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Over the years Kochiyama has dedicated herself to various causes like rights of political prisoners, nuclear disarmament, freeing Mumia Abu-Jamal and reparations to Japanese-Americans who were interned during the war.

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1921: 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar)....

US: REDIRECT US (disambiguation)...

Japanese-American: Japanese Americans are a group of people who trace their ancestry to Japan or Okinawa and are residents and/or citizens of the United States. Japan is a western Pacific Ocean multi-archipelagic nation east of the China in Asia. Japanese Americans are a subgroup of East-Asian Americans which is fur...

Yuri Kochiyama related Images and Photos (experimental)

Yuri's Night 2011 Shirt	Yuri's Night 2011 Babydoll	Yuri's Night 2011 Babydoll	Yuri Gagarin in Cosmonaut Outfit
Russian Yuri Vlasov 270-Lb Putting on a Private Exhibit for Olympic Athlete before Official Contest	Red Square Celebration in Honor of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin First Human to Orbit the Earth