Born May 19, 1922

San Pedro, California

Activist and speaker

Yuri Kochiyama. Yuri Kochiyama.

"Don't become too narrow. Live fully. Meet all kinds of people. You'll learn something from everyone. Follow what you feel in your heart."

As a teenager, Yuri Kochiyama lived a quiet life in small-town San Pedro, California. She wanted to be a teacher and had no interest in political issues or life much beyond her local, middle-class community. That all changed after the surprise attack in December 1941 on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by Japanese forces. Within weeks, the U.S. government forced over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry—70 percent of whom were American-born citizens—to leave their homes and move to internment camps, where people were held in custody during a war. That experience was the inspiration for Kochiyama's political activism for social justice, civil rights, and racial equality.

Kochiyama's activism took root during the...