What Yuri Taught Me w/ Akemi Kochiyama

(S6, EP 3) Akemi Kochiyama joined in for this week's episode.  Akemi is the granddaughter of late Japanese-American activist icon Yuri Kochiyama. In this interview, we talk about Yuri's activism that began when she and her family were forcibly sent to the Japanese incarceration camps during WWII. In her activism work, Yuri connected with Malcolm X, Assata Shakur, and other Black activists to support the Black liberation movement while also speaking out against the Vietnam War, the US military industrial complex, and western imperialism. Akemi speaks about her grandma's legacy along with her family's long rich history with Black and Asian movements, her current movement work, and what this all means in today's current civil rights movements.  Please check out this episode to learn more about Akemi's work. 

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Bio

Akemi Kochiyama is a scholar-activist, community builder who currently serves as the Director of Advancement at Manhattan Country School. She is also Co-Director of the Yuri Kochiyama Archives Project and co-editor of Passing It On: A Memoir by Yuri Kochiyama.  As a graduate of Spelman College, Akemi is also a doctoral candidate in the Ph.D. Program in Cultural Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and serves on the Board of The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center.

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This episode is sponsored by Red Scarf Revolution (RSR).  RSR is a merchandise line that honors and celebrates the Cambodian diaspora identity and experience.  Feel free to check out their merchandise line and get yourself a t-shirt, hat, or other gifts.  Be sure to visit www.redscarfrevolution.com or their IG at red_scarf_revolution to learn more about their work(s).