Yuri Kochiyamas’s lifetime of activism
5/26/202621 min
Civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama lived a life dedicated to social justice for people of all backgrounds. Not only a pillar of the Asian-American movement, she also fought for Black liberation and the rights of political prisoners. Today on the show, how Yuri Kochiyama’s 50 years of activism was informed and practiced.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Rund Abdelfatah· Host0:15
[music] This is America in Pursuit, a limited run series from NPR and Throughline. I'm Rund Abdelfatah. Each week, we bring you stories about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the US that began 250 years ago.
Yuri Kochiyama· Soundbite0:34
[music] The date was February 21st. It was a Sunday.
Rund Abdelfatah· Host0:46
This is the voice of Yuri Kochiyama in an archive recording about the fateful day in 1965 when civil rights activist Malcolm X was assassinated.
Speaker 40:57
As-salamu alaykum.
Speaker 50:59
Wa alaykumu s-salam.
Speaker 41:00
How do you feel?
Speaker 51:01
Power to the people.
Speaker 41:02
Who do we wanna hear?
Speaker 51:03
Malcolm X.
Speaker 41:05
Are we gonna bring him up?
Rund Abdelfatah· Host1:05
Yuri was there when there was a distraction in the audience.
Speaker 61:09
And, uh, just then, the gunfire went off, and his, his hand was up. I remember this. I turned around quickly, and the next thing I saw was Malcolm falling back in a dead faint.
Rund Abdelfatah· Host1:18
Yuri ran up to Malcolm X.
Yuri Kochiyama· Soundbite1:20
And picked up his head and just put it on my lap.
Rund Abdelfatah· Host1:24
At that moment, someone snapped a photo. Yuri is dressed in all black,