Yuri & Malcolm Mural Dedication Ceremony

Sunday, October 23 at 125th St. and Old Broadway in Harlem


On Sunday in New York, you are invited to a dedication ceremony for new mural in honor of legendary activists and friends Yuri Kochiyama and Malcolm X. Over a year and a half in the making, the community mural will be unveiled on Sunday, October 23 at the corner of 125th St. and Old Broadway in Harlem.

Here are some more details about the dedication:

Today's Google Doodle is dedicated to Yuri Kochiyama.

Google's homepage honors the legendary activist on her 95th birthday.



In honor of Yuri Kochiyama's 95th birthday on May 19th, the Google homepage has dedicated today's Google Doodle to the legendary late activist, educator and humanitarian, who died in 2014.

The doodle, by artist Alyssa Winans, features an iconic image of Kochiyama at the center of one of many protests and rallies, for numerous social and political movements, over a lifetime in the fight for justice.

A Birthday Celebration & Mural Launch for Yuri & Malcolm

Thursday, May 19 the Manhattanville Community Center



On Thursday evening in New York, in celebration of the birthdays of both Yuri Kochiyama and Malcolm X -- they shared the same birthday, May 19 -- a new mural design dedicated to the two civil rights icons and friends will be revealed for community discussion and dialogue. The family-friendly event will also feature art-making activities and performances.

It's happening Thursday, May 19 at the Manhattanville Community Center. Here are some more details:

Fund This: A Mural for Yuri & Malcolm

A mural project inspired by the lives, legacies, and friendship between Yuri Kochiyama and Malcolm X.



"From Harlem With Love: A Mural for Yuri and Malcolm" is a mural project led by artists and activists inspired by the lives, legacies, and deep friendship between Yuri Kochiyama and Malcolm X.

The mural project, also led by the family of Yuri Kochiyama, will include film screenings, educational programs, artist visioning sessions, and a series of community mural painting days culminating in a mural of Yuri Kochiyama and Malcolm X in Harlem, New York City -- where their legacies were formed and live on.

To make this happen, they need your help! Make a donation here. This a 100% grassroots effort, and they're putting it all together without any corporate, foundation, or other economic support. This is a project, of, by, and for the people, and will only happen with true community support.

'Rad American Women A-Z'

Picture book profiles "Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History... and Our Future!"



THIS IS AWESOME. If you're looking for a fun, colorful book to teach kids -- and heck, grownups too -- about real-life incredible, visionary, revolutionary women, spanning the entire alphabet, then you need this book.

Rad American Women, A-Z by written by Kate Schatz and illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl, profiles 26 of America's famous and unsung heroines -- past, present and future. It's feminist history in a picture book.

A is for Angela Davis. B is for Billie Jean King. C is for Carol Burnett. Y is for Yuri Kochiyama. Z is for Zora Neale Hurston. X is for the women whose names we don't know, "the women we haven't learned about yet, and the women whose stories we will never read." Incredible.

Here are a couple of the illustrations:

If Yuri Kochiyama starred in a music video, this would be it.

Video tribute edited by Tad Nakamura, with music by Blue Scholars



This awesome video, dedicated to late activist and educator Yuri Kochiyama, was made for her recent memorial services held in Oakland, Los Angeles and New York City. Edited by Tad Nakamura, and featuring the music of the Blue Scholars, it's a moving, powerful tribute to life and legacy. Check it out:

New York City Memorial for Yuri Kochiyama

Saturday, September 27 at First Corinthian Baptist Church



Just a reminder... If you're in New York and would like to participate in a celebration of the life and work of legendary activist, educator and humanitarian Yuri Kochiyama, her family invites you to attend a public memorial next in Harlem. It's happening Saturday, September 27 at First Corinthian Baptist Church.

Here are some more details:

An Homage for Yuri Kochiyama

By Traci Kato-Kiriyama



Over the weekend, I joined hundreds of community members in Little Tokyo for public memorial service honoring the life and legacy of activist Yuri Kochiyama, who died in June at the age 93. It was a beautiful, inspiring gathering of people from all walks of life, celebrating the amazing journey of a giant.

During the program, artist/performer/educator Traci Kato-Kiriyama shared her homage to Yuri Kochiyama. It's a lovely piece, and I'm re-sharing it here, with Traci's permission:

Memorials for Yuri Kochiyama

August 31 in Los Angeles, September 27 in New York



This summer, we lost a giant.

Legendary activist, educator and humanitarian Yuri Kochiyama, whose mentorship and fierce lifelong dedication to justice inspired generations of movement makers, died June 1 at the age of 93.

If you'd like to participate in a celebration of her life and work, the Kochiyama family invites you to attend memorials happening on August 31 in Los Angeles and September 27 in New York.

Here are some more details:

Let's get Yuri Kochiyama on a postage stamp

Sign the petition to the United States Post Office


With the passing of legendary activist Yuri Kochiyama, we lost a giant. The past week has seen a number of moving tributes, including an online art exhibition and a Tumblr of personal reflections.

In honor of her lifetime of revolutionary activism, 18 Million Rising has launched a campaign to salute Yuri Kochiyama's legacy with her very own U.S. postage stamp. They've launched a petition asking the United States Post Office to create a stamp in honor:

Legendary activist Yuri Kochiyama dies at 93

Rest in peace. Your life and legacy inspires generations.


Photo Credit: An Rong Xu
An icon has passed. Legendary activist, educator and humanitarian Yuri Kochiyama, whose mentorship and fierce, lifelong dedication to justice inspired generations of movement makers, has died. According to her family, she passed away peacefully in her asleep on Sunday morning in Berkeley, California. She was 93.

Japanese-American Activist And Malcolm X Ally Dies At 93

Born Mary Yuriko Nakahara to Japanese immigrants in 1921, Kochiyama's life of radical activism was sparked as a young woman after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when she and her family were among the thousands of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated by the U.S. government during World War II. Her experiences in the camps would later fuel her involvement in future struggles for racial justice.

apply to the yuri kochiyama leadership program

This sounds like a great opportunity for young people in the metro-Detroit area...

The Yuri Kochiyama Leadership Program at the University of Michigan is an outreach program to Asian Pacific Islander American high school students. The sessions, which meet Saturdays and begin in October, focuses on Asian American heritage, identity and awareness.

Here are some more details about the program:

Happy Birthday, Yuri Kochiyama

Happy birthday to Yuri Kochiyama. To celebrate the legendary Japanese American activist's life, work and struggle, here's an amazing reduction print/portrait by artist Alec Icky Dunn, available from Justseeds.

And since we're celebrating, listen to the song "Yuri Kochiyama" by Blue Scholars, off their upcoming album Cinemetropolis. I've had it on repeat all day. "When I grow up I wanna be just like Yuri Kochiyama." Seriously.

music video: "I got my" by magnetic north & taiyo na feat. jin

With appearances by just about anybody and everybody they could get in front of a camera.


Epic. That's really the only way to describe this. You must watch the music video for "I Got My" by Magnetic North and Taiyo Na featuring Jin, with appearances by just about anybody and everybody they could get in front of a camera -- entertainers, activists, teachers, students, actors, designers, dancers, writers, poets, bloggers, community organizers. It's pretty damn awesome. Check it out:

public enemy is down with yuri kochiyama

Of all the Asian American revolutionaries you could imagine popping up in a Public Enemy music video, who's the first person who comes to mind?

mountains that take wing: angela davis & yuri kochiyama - a conversation an life, struggles & liberation

This films looks cool! I just heard about Mountains That Take Wing: Angela Davis & Yuri Kochiyama - A Conversation on Life, Struggles & Liberation, directed by C.A. Griffith and H.L.T. Quan. The title sort of explains it all, doesn't it? The film is a series of conversations between two remarkable, formidable women. Take a look at the trailer:

t-shirt love: yuri kochiyama

"Yuri Kochiyama"
Available from Liberation Ink

Description: "Yuri Kochiyama has been and continues to be an inspiration to generations of activists, especially in the Asian American community. She emerged as one of the most prominent Asian Americans in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Her work bridges divides in multiple progressive and radical political communities, bringing together people in the Black Liberation Movement, political prisoner defense, Asian American equality, and Puerto Rican Independence. Yuri is truly dedicated to social justice among all peoples. She is remarkable among activists in that while she is an unabashedly political revolutionary leader, she manages to be uniquely compassionate, supportive and humble. She takes on the never-ending task of nurturing and grooming each wave of young activists. She is forever dedicated to the "togetherness of all people."

We love her for being so dedicated to all that she does and everyone she knows - in short, for being Yuri.

I have wanted make a design to pay tribute to Yuri for a long time. We needed a "pop" image to celebrate her as an important figure in the Asian American community and among social justice activists. I finally learned to silkscreen in the late winter of 2006 and had the perfect chance to hand-make t-shirts and posters with a design that captured Yuri's image and language.

Yuri's image on the shirt is a hand-drawn adaptation of a photo of Yuri at an anti-war rally in Central Park, circa 1968. I drew it in the flat, bold style of Cuban revolutionary posters that capture the energy and funkiness of public political art. The quote is taken from a recent conversation Yuri had with Diane Fujino for Fujino's book Yuri Kochiyama: Heartbeat of Struggle, echoing remarks she made in a 1990 interview Sasha Hohri in the Asian American magazine Gidra and in Tajiri and Saunders' 1993 video Yuri Kochiyama: A Passion for Justice."

t-shirt love: yuri kochiyama

"Yuri Kochiyama"
Available from KMStitchery (on Etsy)

Description: "Yuri Kochiyama (born May 19, 1921) is a Japanese-American human rights activist. Kochiyama was born Mary Nakahara in San Pedro, California. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Kochiyama's father was imprisoned the same day. Her family, sent to a camp in Jerome, Arkansas, were among the 120,000 Japanese-Americans interned during the Second World War.

In 1960, Kochiyama and her husband Bill moved to Harlem, New York City. She became acquainted with Malcolm X and became a member of his Organization of Afro-American Unity, following his departure from the Nation of Islam. She was present at his assassination on February 21, 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, and held him in her arms as he lay dying.

In 1977, Kochiyama joined the group of Puerto Ricans that took over the Statue of Liberty to draw attention to the struggle for Puerto Rican independence. Over the years, Kochiyama has dedicated herself to various causes, such as the rights of political prisoners, freeing Mumia Abu-Jamal, nuclear disarmament, and reparations to Japanese Americans who were interned during the war."

This is not silk screened. I hand cut this stencil with an xacto knife. This is apart of a feminism series of stencils I'm doing on influential women. I want to make this clothing to empower women. So, Represent! With these powerful ladies!"

Yuri Kochiyama, A Real American Hero

Here's a great profile on long-time social justice activist Yuri Kochiyama, who turns 87 years old today: Oakland activist keeps spirit of revolution strong. She's definitely one of my heroes, a true inspiration in the fight for justice and fairness for all. What an amazing woman.

Today also happens to be Malcolm X's birthday, and for many, Kochiyama might be most well-known as the woman who cradled Malcolm X in her lap after he was shot, on February 21, 1965, during a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. Malcolm X's message had a profound impact on her own activist ideology, one of self-determination for all people, and her involvement in African American struggles helped lay the groundwork for the Asian American movement in the late '60s.

Without a doubt, she's a real pioneer. But what amazes me most is that at age 87, she's still going strong, active as ever in social justice causes and passing that fire along to younger generations. Much respect.