Yuri Kochiyama
“A story Ms. Kochiyama is often asked to retell is how she first met Malcolm X in Harlem. Ms. Kochiyama had been an admirer of Malcolm X for sometime when she happened to see him walk into a courthouse in Brooklyn, where he was instantly surrounded by people shaking his hand. Ms. Kochiyama was shy at first of approaching him amongst all his African followers, but when he met her eyes she found herself asking if she could shake his hand.
“What for?” Malcolm had asked, almost suspiciously.
When Ms. Kochiyama finally answered, “You’re giving direction [to your people]”, Malcolm strode out of the crowd with a smile, and shook Ms. Kochiyama’s hand.”
“As an Asian among blacks, she was always sensitive of her place, working more as a facilitator and supporter. Her genius was networking, and as many leaders began being arrested in FBI crackdowns, she became the point person for those arrested, as well as those released from prison.” (From here.)
“Asked to name a few of the [prisoners] she writes to, Yuri can’t stop, hoping to get all their names in the paper: Mutulu Shakur, Yu Kikumura, George Baba Eng, Bashir Hameed, Abdul Majid, Oscar Lopez Rivera. …” from Interviw here.
Her new book is out, Yuri Kochiyama, Heartbeat of Struggle
Yuri talks about Malcom X, here.
Another Yuri K. interview On War, Imperialism, Osama bin Laden, And Black-Asian Politics
Integration vs. Separation:
“As long as we don’t know our history and other’s history, there will be no positive interactions or understanding”
– Yuri Kochiyama