Table of ContentsEarly 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 are part of this group. In addition to the above, they experienced sexism, mistreatment, and objectification due to the added fact of being female. Asian women were categorized and lumped together as “women of color” and faced harsh immigration laws and policies. At their workplace, they were treated unfairly and endured poor working conditions. They were unequally represented and unfairly paid for the work they did, while facing outright discrimination. Asian women have suffered violence, both physical and mental, have been degraded and stereotyped as sexual and erotic beings intended solely for the pleasure of men. They did not enjoy the same privileges and freedoms as Americans and were considered unworthy of citizenship, but they were expected to adhere to the ways of life of American civilization and culture. Asian women have struggled to be accepted and seen as anything other than the identity given to them by preconceived ideas and stereotypes. Asian American women like Yuri Kochiyama fought to rectify social injustices faced 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 Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayEarly LifeOn May 19, 1921, Yuri Kochiyama was born. The name given to her at birth was Mary Yuriko Nakahara and she was born and raised in San Pedro, California. Her parents were both Japanese immigrants who emigrated to the United States and she had two siblings, including her twin brother named Peter, and an older brother. Yuri's father, Seiichi Nakahara, worked as an entrepreneurial fish merchant who had ties to those of the upper group of Japanese and supplied them with ships, while his mother, named Tsuyako Nakahara, had a college education and was a mother at hearth. who maintained the household. Yuri's mother also periodically taught piano. During her youth, she taught children in Sunday school, played 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 sports section of the newspaper called the San Pedro News-Pilot. She then attended 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 American and United States history. States. Besides the current state of events, Yuri Kochiyama's life has been personally affected. That same day, Yuri was at home with her father, who was recovering from surgery, when FBI agents arrived and arrested and detained him. He was detained at the Terminal Island Federal Penitentiary (Weitz, 2014). He was unfairly accused of being a spy for the Japanese since he worked as a fish merchant, supplied ships, and had ties to the Japanese. Kochiyama's family later discovered that the FBI had been monitoring them for some time. While in detention, Yuri's father, Mr. Nakahara,was questioned about broadcasts from Japan and a cable message, which the FBI had intercepted, sent to him by his longtime friend in Japan, Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura. In this particular message, the Ambassador sincerely apologized to Mr. Nakahara for not being able to make the trip to see Mr. Nakahara and engage in “sanma” due to his business in Washington. However, this specific word used during their conversation, which was a Japanese word, "sanma", was foreign to the FBI and was believed to be a code word of some sort. Unbeknownst to the FBI, “sanma” was a type of fish favored by the Japanese (Murase, 2007). Accusations and suspicions explain the unjust detention of Yuri's father, which worsened his health, deteriorating it and ultimately leading to his death. Six weeks after being released from detention, Mr. Nakahara died on January 21, 1942. Internment Camp Experience In February 1942, President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 was signed and implemented, in which the military was to expel all residents deemed to be enemy “aliens” from all Western regions and relocate them. All second-generation Japanese Americans, known as Nisei, were categorized as foreigners and therefore 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 she began to become aware of and experience the many social problems as well as racism in the South, known as the Jim Crow laws. These laws implemented racial segregation in the American South. Yuri's experiences during her young adulthood, including the wrongful death of her father, are what led her to become aware of the government's abuse of power as well as political issues. During his internment, Yuri remained positive and engaged with other people in the camp. Just as she had done before being transferred to the camp, she resumed her Sunday school teaching. This group of young people she taught became known as the Crusaders, a group she created and structured. The Crusaders drafted and wrote many letters to Nisei soldiers serving in the U.S. Army during World War II to provide them with a sense of support and positivity. Yuri had a positive meeting at USO Jérôme. It was here that she met her future husband, Bill Kochiyama, who was a Nisei soldier in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, part of the U.S. Army staffed by Japanese Americans (Woo, 2014; Yardley, 2014). ).Marriage, Activism, and Malcolm XIn 1946, Yuri Nakahara and Bill Kochiyama were married. They moved to New York and lived in a small housing project. Together they created six children. Despite the small size of their apartment, they received many guests and social gatherings because of their activity and involvement in the community and the support they gave 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. In the early 1960s, Yuri and Bill made the decision to move to Harlem, to a neighborhood that housed workers. classifies Puerto Ricans and blacks. It was this decision that added to the boost to his political activism. She invited other activists to speak at her home. In order to gain knowledge about black culture and history, Yuri and her husband enrolledin what were called the “freedom schools”. The civil rights movement was alive and growing, and Yuri became actively involved in this movement, fighting for equality and civil and human rights. The civil rights movement was a movement that grew throughout the 1950s and 1960s and encompassed the struggle of African Americans to achieve freedom, equal rights and privileges and to eradicate racial discrimination and segregation. She fought for equal and quality education for young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods by orchestrating boycotts in schools. In 1963, after learning of the discrimination faced by Puerto Ricans and blacks in hiring at a particular job site, Yuri joined the protest that called for the hiring of these people and was eventually one of the Hundreds of people arrested and detained. She was detained in a Brooklyn courthouse and it was there that she had her first meeting with Malcolm is created. Yuri extended an invitation to Malcolm There were also journalists who were currently on a world peace tour. Yuri becomes interested in Malcolm's fight for black liberation and becomes a member of his group, the Organization for Afro-American Unity. While attending one of Malcolm laid his head on his knees as he died. taking his last breaths. The scene in which Yuri holds Malcolm Despite the untimely death of Malcolm X, Yuri continued his political activism and his fight for human and civil rights. . She led the Asian American Movement in the late 1960s and became a member of Asian Americans for Action to help fight against U.S. military abuses in Japan, Vietnam and in Cambodia. She sought to create an Asian-American movement that was more politically charged and capable of connecting to the fight for the many freedoms sought for black people. She frequently visited prisons, providing support to imprisoned political activists, and in 1977 she united with Puerto Rican nationalists atop the Statue of Liberty to aid their nonviolent campaign for the release of five political prisoners. Over the years, Yuri has never stopped fighting for his rights. She was also active in the movement for reparations for Japanese Americans. Yuri and her husband campaigned for reparations for Japanese Americans detained during World War II and ultimately won that battle. This led President Reagan to sign the Civil Liberties Act in 1988, making it law, and thus Japanese Americans detained during World War II received $20,000 each, a form of justice in a sense ( Weitz, 2014; ).Keep in mind: This is just a sample.Get a personalized essay now from our expert writers.Get a Custom EssayAs Yuri grew older, she continued to be active and involved politically, even until at 90 years old, while motivating the younger generation to do the same. On June 1, 2014, Yuri Kochiyama died. She was 93 years old. Throughout his life, Yuri contributed to the..