IndexEarly LifeInternment Camp ExperienceMarriage, Activism, and Malcolm XMinority groups have suffered and endured much discrimination, oppression, racism, and social injustice in America. Asian and Asian American women include this group. In addition to the above, they experienced sexism, mistreatment, and objectification due to the additional fact of being female. Asian women were categorized and grouped as “women of color” and faced harsh immigration laws and policies. In the workplace, they were treated unfairly and endured poor working conditions. They were unequally represented and unfairly rewarded for the work they completed, facing outright discrimination. Asian women have suffered violence, both physical and mental, have been degraded and stereotyped as sexual and erotic beings intended exclusively for the pleasure of men. They were not afforded the same privileges and freedoms as Americans and were considered unworthy of citizenship, but were expected to adhere to the ways of American civilization and culture. Asian women have struggled to be accepted and seen as more than just the identity given to them by preconceived notions and stereotypes. Asian American women like Yuri Kochiyama fought to correct social injustices experienced by minorities and was a political activist who fought for the civil and human rights of minority groups. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Early life On May 19, 1921, Yuri Kochiyama was born. The name she was given at birth was Mary Yuriko Nakahara and she was born and raised in San Pedro, California. His parents were both Japanese immigrants who emigrated to the United States and he had two brothers, one of whom was his twin brother named Peter, and an older brother. Yuri's father, Seiichi Nakahara, worked as an entrepreneur and fish trader who had ties to those of the upper group of Japanese and supplied them with ships, while his mother, named Tsuyako Nakahara, had received a university education and was a stay-at-home mother . who kept the house. Yuri's mother also periodically taught piano. During her youth she worked as a teacher for Sunday school children, was involved in sports and led various organizations for girls. She was also the first woman to become vice president of her high school, San Pedro High, where she graduated in 1939. Yuri contributed as a writer to the newspaper's sports section called the San Pedro News-Pilot. She went on to attend Compton Junior College and graduated in 1941 after studying English, art, and journalism (Woo, 2014). Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941 by the Japanese, marking a traumatic event in history for Americans and the United States. States. In addition to the current state of events, Yuri Kochiyama's life has been personally affected. That same day, Yuri was at home with his father, who was recovering from surgery, when FBI agents arrived, arrested and detained him. He was detained at the Terminal Island Federal Penitentiary (Weitz, 2014). He was falsely accused of being a spy for the Japanese as he worked as a fish trader, supplied ships and had connections with the Japanese. Kochiyama's family later discovered that the FBI had been monitoring them for some time. During his time in detention, Yuri's father, Mr. Nakahara, was questioned about transmissions from Japan and a cable message, which the FBI had intercepted, sent to him by his longtime friend inJapan, Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura. In that particular message, the Ambassador sincerely apologized to Mr. Nakahara for not being able to make the trip to see Mr. Nakahara and indulge in “sanma” due to having to take care of business in Washington. However, the specific word used during their conversation, which was a Japanese word, “sanma,” was foreign to the FBI and was assumed to be a code word of some kind. Unknown to the FBI, “sanma” was a type of fish enjoyed by the Japanese (Murase, 2007). The accusations and suspicions explain the unjust detention of Yuri's father, which aggravated his health, worsening it and ultimately leading to his death. Six weeks after being released from detention, Mr. Nakahara died on January 21, 1942. Experience in an Internment Camp In February 1942, President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 was signed and implemented requiring the Army to remove all residents regarded as enemy “aliens” by all Western parties and relocate them. All second-generation Japanese Americans, known as Nisei, were classified as aliens and then sent to internment camps also known as “assembly centers.” Yuri and his family are Nisei and were affected by the signing of Executive Order 9066. They were transferred to an internment camp located in Jerome, Arkansas, where they remained for approximately two years. It was during this time that he began to realize and experience the many social problems along with racism in the South, known as Jim Crow laws. These laws implemented racial segregation in the southern parts of the United States. Yuri's experiences throughout her young adulthood, including the unjustified death of her father, are what led her to become aware of government abuse of power along with political issues. During the internment, Yuri remained optimistic and engaged with the other people in the camp. Just as she had done before she was transferred to the camp, she resumed teaching Sunday school. This group of young people she taught became known as the Crusaders, a group she created and structured. The Crusaders would compose and write numerous letters to Nisei soldiers serving in the United States Army during World War II as a means of providing a sense of support and positivity. Yuri had a positive meeting at the Jerome USO. It was here that she met her future husband, Bill Kochiyama, who was a Nisei soldier in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was part of the U.S. Army made up of Japanese Americans (Woo, 2014; Yardley, 2014). Marriage, activism and Malcolm XIn 1946, Yuri Nakahara and Bill Kochiyama married. They moved to New York City and lived in a small apartment complex. Together, they created six children. Despite the small size of their apartment, they had many guests and social gatherings due to their activity and involvement in the community and the support they provided to Chinese and Japanese soldiers destined to serve in the Korean War. Together, they wrote and produced Christmas Cheer, a family newsletter that they continued annually between 1950 and 1968. During the early part of the 1960s, Yuri and Bill made the decision to move to Harlem, moving into a neighborhood that housed working-class . class Puerto Ricans and blacks. It was this move that helped spur his political activism. He extended invitations to other activists to speak at his home. To gain knowledge about black culture and history, both Yuri and her husband enrolled in what were known as “freedom schools.” The civil rights movement was in force and actively expanding, and Yuri was actively involved inthis movement, fighting for equality and civil and human rights. The civil rights movement was a movement that occurred in the 1950s and 1960s that included the struggle of African Americans to gain freedom, equal rights and privileges, and eradicate racial discrimination and segregation. She fought for equitable, quality education for inner-city youth by orchestrating school boycotts. In 1963, after learning of the discrimination faced by Puerto Ricans and blacks in hiring for a particular construction site, Yuri joined the protest calling for the hiring of these people, and was ultimately one of hundreds of people arrested and detained. She was detained in a Brooklyn courthouse and it was there that she had her first encounter with Malcolm X. She reached out to ask for a handshake and from then on a friendship was born. Yuri extended an invitation to Malcolm X in June 1964. Malcolm Journalists who were currently on a world peace tour were also present. Yuri became interested in Malcolm's fight for black liberation and became a member of his group, the Organization for African-American Unity. While attending one of Malcolm , taking his last breaths. The scene where Yuri holds Malcolm Despite Malcolm X's untimely death, Yuri continued his political activism and fight for human and civil rights. He led the Asian American movement during the latter part of the 1960s and became a member of Asian Americans for Action to aid them in their stance against the infringement on Japan, Vietnam, and Cambodia by the United States Army. He sought to create an Asian American movement that was more politically charged and could connect with the fight for the many freedoms sought by blacks. He often visited prisons, lending support to imprisoned political activists, and in 1977 he joined Puerto Rican nationalists atop the Statue of Liberty to help in their nonviolent campaign for the release of five political prisoners. As the years passed, Yuri never stopped his fight for rights. She was also active in the reparations movement for Japanese-Americans. Both Yuri and her husband campaigned for reparations for Japanese Americans detained during World War II, and ultimately won that battle. The result was that President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act in 1988, thus making it law, and thus Japanese Americans detained during World War II were given $20,000 each, a form of justice in a sense (Weitz, 2014; Woo, 2014). ). Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay As Yuri aged, she continued to be active and involved politically, even into her 90s, providing motivation for the younger generation to do the same. On June 1, 2014, Yuri Kochiyama died. He was 93 years old. Throughout his life, Yuri contributed to social change by advocating and engaging in social justice and human rights. She has actively engaged in multiple human and civil rights movements for Asian American and Black minority groups in the United States, as well as movements located in third world countries. She engaged in movements focused on liberation.