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Civil Rights Activist Yuri Kochiyama Remembers Her Life:
From Internment Camps in the U.S. to the Assassination of
Malcolm X and Beyond
On the 41st Anniversary of the Assassination of Malcolm X,
“The Ballot or the Bullet”
Civil Rights Activist Yuri Kochiyama Remembers Her
Life: From Internment Camps in the U.S. to the Assassination
of Malcolm X and Beyond
41 years ago today, Malcolm X was gunned down in the Audubon
Ballroom in Harlem. Yuri Kochiyama cradled his head as he
lay dying on the stage. Kochiyama’s activism began after
the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when she and her family were
held in an internment camp along with more than 100,000 Japanese
in the United States. [includes rush
transcript]
Forty-one years ago today - on February 21, 1965 - Malcolm
X was shot dead as he spoke at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem.
He had just taken the stage when shots rang out riddling his
body with bullets. He was 39 years old.
Malcolm X’s friend, activist Yuri Kochiyama was in
the Audubon Ballroom the day he was assassinated. After he
was shot, she rushed to the stage and cradled Malcolm’s
head in her arms as he lay dying. Today we’ll hear Yuri
Kochiyama talk about that fateful day and speak with the longtime
activist about her life.
For over sixty years, Yuri Kochiyama has championed civil
rights, protested racial inequality and fought for causes
of social justice. Her story begins during World War II. On
the day of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Yuri's father was
arrested. Her parents were then forcibly removed from their
home by the U.S. government and held in an internment camp
along with 120,000 other Japanese Americans. While at a camp
in Arkansas, Yuri came face-to-face with the segregation of
the Jim Crow south. She immediately saw the parallels between
the oppression of Black people and the treatment of Japanese
Americans. In 1960, Yuri and her husband Bill Kochiyama moved
into a housing project in Harlem. Yuri became involved in
the Civil Rights Movement and was part of the major struggles
of the 1960s and 70’s. She especially supported the
Black liberation struggle and the work of the Black Panther
party. In 1977, she took part in the takeover of the Statue
of Liberty to bring attention to the struggle for Puerto Rican
independence. In the 1980s, she and her husband led the successful
fight to gain reparations for people of Japanese descent who
were imprisoned during World War II.
- Yuri Kochiyama, longtime civil rights activist, interned
at a U.S. concentration camp during World War II, friend
of Malcolm X and with him as he died. Yuri Kochiyama is
the author of "Passing It On", a memoir.
On the 41st Anniversary of the Assassination of Malcolm
X, “The Ballot or the Bullet”
We turn now to the words of Malcolm X, who was assassinated
41 years ago today in New York City as he spoke before a packed
audience in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom. He was just 39
years old. This is an excerpt of a speech he gave in Detroit
on April 12, 1964 - just a year before he was gunned down.
It is known as “The Ballot or the Bullet.” [includes
rush transcript]
Malcolm X was a leader of the nationalist black movement
during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. His father,
Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter
of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey and became targeted
by the KKK. When Malcolm was just six years old, his father's
body was found beaten to a pulp.
As a child, Malcolm X excelled in school and graduated from
junior high at the top of his class. But he lost interest
in school when his favorite teacher told him his idea of becoming
a lawyer was "no realistic goal for a nigger." He
dropped out and eventually wound up in Harlem, New York, where
he became a drug dealer and a thief. At the age of 20, he
was caught and sentenced to several years in prison for robbery.
In prison, Malcolm renewed his studies and found the teachings
of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. By
the time he got out of prison, Malcolm had converted to Islam
and changed his name. He considered "Little" a slave
name and chose the surname "X" to symbolize his
lost African name.
Malcolm X was appointed a minister and national spokesman
for the Nation of Islam. He established new mosques in Detroit,
Michigan, Harlem, and other cities. He was largely credited
with increasing the Nation of Islam's membership from 500
in 1952 to 30,000 in 1963. As Malcolm X's fame began to supersede
Elijah Muhammad's, tensions grew within the Nation of Islam.
FBI agents infiltrated the organization. Shortly after learning
Elijah Muhammad was betraying his own teachings and having
affairs with several women, Malcolm X split with the Nation
of Islam. He founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
Malcolm X was shot to death on February 21, 1965 in New York
City. Many believe the FBI helped to foment the tensions between
Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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