What is Yuri Kochiyama?
{{Infobox person | name = Yuri Kochiyama | birth_name = Mary Yuriko Nakahara | birth_date = {{birth date|1921|5|19|mf=y}} | death_date = {{death date|2014|6|1|mf=y}} | occupation = [[Civil rights]] [[activist]] }} '''Yuri Kochiyama''' (formerly Mary Yuriko Nakahara; May 19, 1921 - June 1, 2014) was a Japanese-American civil rights activist. This passion led her to initiate reparations for interned [[Japanese American internment|Japanese-Americans]] during [[World War II|World War 2]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Paul|first=Elias|date=9 Jun 2014|title=Yuri Kochiyama|work=The Independent}}</ref> As one of the thousands of Japanese-Americans sent to [[Concentration camp|concentration camps]], she felt strongly about the cause. The imprisonment and death of her father helped her to become an advocate for the oppressed. She stood for and admired other activists such as [[Malcolm X]], [[Che Guevara|Che Guevarra]], [[Patrice Lumumba]], and [[Fidel Castro]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Davis|first=Jack|date=26 Mar 2022|title=White House celebrates radical Maoist who openly admired Osama bin Laden after 9/11|work=The Western Journal}}</ref> Specifically, Kochiyama was friends with Malcolm X, an African-American human rights activist in the 1960s. She was a part of Malcolm's Organization of Afro-American Unity, and took part in the film ''Death of a Prophet'', where she played herself. <ref>{{Cite news|last=Herb|first=Boyd|date=2014|title=Remembering Yuri Kochiyama, Civil Rights Activist and Malcolm X Ally: The Japanese-American activist, who died Sunday at 93, rushed to Malcolm X's side after he was shot--and was no means a quiet bystander in the civil rights struggle.|work=The Daily Beast, New York: The Newsweek/Daily Beast Company}}</ref> Later in her career, Yuri Kochiyama was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. == References == {{Reflist}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kochiyama, Yuri}} [[Category:1921 births]] [[Category:2014 deaths]] [[Category:American civil rights