🌸 Women Who Spoke Up: Yuri Kochiyama 🌸

Simply Flava | Japanese Women Activists Series

Yuri Kochiyama’s name may not always be in the headlines, but her legacy runs deep through the veins of civil rights history.

Born in 1921 in San Pedro, California, Yuri’s life changed forever after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her family — like thousands of other Japanese Americans — was sent to an internment camp during World War II. That injustice became the spark that shaped her lifelong fight for equality and human rights.

When she moved to Harlem, Yuri’s path crossed with Malcolm X — not by accident, but by shared purpose. She believed that liberation wasn’t about one group; it was about all people. Black, Puerto Rican, Asian, Indigenous — she stood beside them all. She became one of Malcolm’s closest allies and was even by his side when he was assassinated in 1965.

Her activism didn’t stop there. Yuri fought for the release of political prisoners, stood up for Puerto Rican independence, and demanded justice wherever she saw oppression. She carried her own pain — the racism, the internment, the silencing — and transformed it into power for others.

In 2005, Yuri Kochiyama was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her lifelong dedication to justice and solidarity.

She taught the world that activism isn’t about fame — it’s about faith in people.

“Our ultimate goal should be to see the end of capitalism, the end of imperialism, and the end of oppression.” — Yuri Kochiyama