For the first time ever, a residence hall lounge in honor of an Asian American graces the University.
Last night, the West lounge of South Quad was renamed the Yuri Kochiyama lounge, in honor of her years of activism in both the civil rights and black nationalist movements.
"I hope this renaming will bring to light the diversity involved with the civil rights movement," said LSA junior Haley Macon.
Kochiyama, a 75-year-old Japanese American and grandmother of eight, reminded students that she is only one of many Asian activists.
"I am but one of countless thousands of Asians involved with activism," Kochiyama said. "I'm very flattered. I can't believe it."
Kochiyama's place in history is signified permanently by a photograph of her cradling Malcolm X in her arms after the black nationalist was shot in Harlem's Audobon Ballroom.
While a picture is said to be worth a thousand words, the image of her holding the slain leader may fail to fully capture the story of Kochiyama's impact. It does, however, reflect her attempts to transcend racial barriers in her activism.
"She is a person who has been an activist through the years and who has never drawn a line between the cultures to achieve what she has done," said Wilfred Little, the oldest brother of Malcolm X. "She's Asian herself, but she represented all of us."
Rackham student Daniel Mzarazua, who led the effort behind the lounge's renaming, called Kochiyama an inspiration.
"It's inspiring to see someone like her to be respected all around," he said. "She broke down a lot of boundaries working at the struggle."
Kochiyama, a second-generation Japanese American, hails from San Pedro, Calif., where she was born and raised as the daughter of a fisherman.
On the night of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Dec. 1941, about 1,000 Japanese Americans were arrested and detained by the FBI. Kochiyama's father was one of those arrested.
One year later, after completing her studies in journalism, Kochiyama was ordered to move to a Japanese relocation camp in Arkansas, where she was detained for two years.
"The government called them relocation centers," Kochiyama said. "We called them concentration camps. I felt anger and shock - I couldn't believe America could actually do it. I thought it was a great democratic country."
It was at the camp that she met her husband Bill, and the couple married after he returned from serving in the war.
In 1960, the couple and their six children moved to Harlem, which was a hotbed for black nationalism and activism. It was this fateful move that paved the path for Kochiyama's crusade for equality, a fight she has yet to abandon.
"That changed our lives," she said. "I wasn't involved at all until I moved to Harlem - everything was happening in Harlem."
As a member of the Harlem Parents Committee, Kochiyama mobilized to have traffic lights installed in the neighborhood, and tried to coerce the sanitation department to collect the garbage that spilled into the streets.
During this period she met Malcolm X, and the two maintained correspondence even as he traveled around the world.
When Kochiyama first met Malcolm X in 1963, she bravely blurted to him that she disagreed with his views on integration.
The Nation of Islam spokesperson smiled at Kochiyama and invited her to his office in Harlem to discuss their contrasting views.
Her friendship and admiration for the leader brought her to the Audobon Ballroom to hear him speak February 21, 1965 - the day Malcolm X was shot and killed.
"Anyone who was there will never forget what happened," she said. "All hell broke loose ... screaming, yelling, all the chairs crashed down."
While the ballroom erupted in chaos, Kochiyama found her way to the stage and into history.
"I was just praying and hoping that he would live and make it," she said. "He had a hard time breathing."
Despite her years, Kochiyama hasn't lost a step in the fight for equality and civil rights.
In addition to working to free former Black Panther member and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, Kochiyama has worked with a number of college campuses to establish and expand ethnic studies departments.
JENNIFER BRADLEY-SWIFT/Daily
Wilfred Little and Yuri Kochiyama greet students and answer questions yesterday about activism and multiculturalism at the dedication of the West lounge in the South Quad residence hall.