Yuri Kochiyama
Yuri Kochiyama
Yuri Kochiyamawas an American political activist. Influenced by her family's internment and her association with Malcolm X, she advocated for many causes, including Black separatism, the anti-war movement, Maoist revolution, reparations for Japanese-American internees, and the rights of people imprisoned by the U.S. government for violent offenses whom she considered to be "political prisoners". On May 19, 2016, she was featured on the U.S. Google Doodle, sparking controversy...
NationalityJapanese
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth19 May 1921
CountryJapan
Life is not what you alone make it. Life is the input of everyone who touched your life and every experience that entered it. We are all part of one another.
So, transform yourself first… Because you are young and have dreams and want to do something meaningful, that in itself, makes you our future and our hope. Keep expanding your horizon, decolonize your mind, and cross borders.
First and foremost, you do not have to live up to or emulate the lives of any of your predecessors. But at the very least, you should know about them. You will have your own life, interests, and ideas of what you want or do not want in life. Do what you enjoy doing. Be honest with yourself and others. Don't think of satisfying anyone: your elders, peers, government, religion, or children who will come after you. Develop meaningful ideals, and become conscious of others, their existence, and their lives.
Don't become too narrow. Live fully. Meet all kinds of people. You'll learn something from everyone. Follow what you feel in your heart.
Remember that consciousness is power. Tomorrow's world is yours to build.
People have a right to violence, to rebel, to fight back. And given what the United States Government and Western powers have done to the third world, I feel that these countries should fight back.
The movement is contagious, and the people in it are the ones who pass on the spirit.
People have a right to violence, to rebel, to fight back.
I tell you, in this country, you don't get much of an education. Throughout high school, through junior college, which is all I went, I didn't know anything about the annihilation of all the Indian nations that were here.
When you're in a black group, you have to keep in mind you're not black. You just have to be sensitive. We have to be appreciative that the black nationalist struggle is a nationalist struggle.
Projects meant living with blacks and Puerto Ricans, but that's what we wanted. Living in the projects, we've met so many wonderful, wonderful people.