On June 1, 2014, one of the great champions of human rights passed away at the age of 93. Yuri Kochiyama was one of Malcolm X’s many disciples, carrying on his visions of a better humanity through her daily actions. She pointed the way out of narrow nationalism to internationalism and was possibly the preeminent expert on the history of alliances between Asians and Africans, Asian Americans and African Americans. She challenged Japanese American activists to look beyond World War II concentration camps and reparations. She has left a living imprint for Asian Americans to “Keep expanding your horizon, decolonize your mind, and cross over borders.”
Among Yuri Kochiyama’s notes for her talks to school children about Malcolm X, she wrote: “To live in hearts that are left behind is not to die.” Yuri’s spirit of boundless generosity and fearless acts of revolutionary kindness shine light onto a better world.
The Kochiyama Family has created a Facebook page “Remembering Yuri Kochiyama” https://www.facebook.com/RememberingYuriKochiyama where tributes, photographs, remembrances, and news on public memorials for Yuri are posted. Condolences and donations can be sent to:
The Kochiyama Family
9242 Live Oak Ave.
Temple City, CA 91780
18 Million Rising (18MR) has an online petition to the US Postal Service to create a Yuri Kochiyama stamp: http://act.engagementlab.org/sign/18mr_yuri_stamp?source=18mrfacebook
UCLA AASC publications featuring Yuri Kochiyama—
Passing It On: A Memoir by Yuri Kochiyama, 256 pp. (2004 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award)
“Discover Your Mission: Selected Speeches and Writings of Yuri Kochiyama,” 48 pp (pamphlet, June 1998)
“A Quick Reflection,” Yuri Kochiyama, Amerasia Journal 15:1 (1989): 99-102.
“’Stirrin’ Waters ‘n Buildin’ Bridges: A Conversation with Ericka Huggins and Yuri Kochiyama,” Amerasia Journal 35:1 (2009): 140-167.
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