Yuri Kochiyama Solidarity Project

Header image by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya. Learn more about Amanda's mural and Raise Your Voice exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York by clicking this link.

About Yuri Kochiyama

Yuri Kochiyama was a second-generation Japanese American citizen, wife, mother and dedicated activist for human rights and social justice. Her personal experiences of incarceration and displacement during WWII, education under Malcolm X, membership in the Organization of Afro American Unity (OAAU) and participation in the Harlem Freedom Schools and many of the social justice movements and struggles that emerged in the second half of the 20th century would lay the path for her lifelong commitment to studying history, building cross movement, cross racial solidarity and supporting struggles for liberation and human rights in the U.S. and internationally.

Over the course of more than 50 years of building community, organizing, marching, speaking, writing, archiving, educating, and hosting guests and gatherings in her Harlem home 365 days a year, Yuri continued to self-educate, “build bridges” and promote radical love and solidarity in defense of human dignity and self-determination for all oppressed people until the end of her life in 2014. 

Our Mission/Vision

The Yuri Kochiyama Solidarity Project (YKSP) honors Yuri’s legacy and carries on her commitment to bringing people together and building cross movement, cross racial solidarity in support of human rights, human dignity and self-determination for all oppressed people. Our mission is to continue this work by providing opportunities for students and educators, artists and activists, communities and movements to connect with each other, learn about and from one another, build meaningful relationships and organize in solidarity. We seek to support, expand and strengthen coalitions between Black Indigenous People Of Color-led, community-based organizations and movements through arts and education programs centered in history and that serve to increase understanding about our shared struggles and to inspire collective action and strategies that empower and protect our communities now and in the future.

The Yuri Kochiyama Solidarity Project honors Yuri’s commitment to bringing people together, self-education, human rights and a praxis of radical solidarity and hospitality in through our programs including:

YKSP Freedom School: Yuri credited Malcolm X and her education in the Organization of Afro American Unity Liberation School and Harlem Freedom Schools with teaching her that self-education is critical to liberation. The YKSP Freedom School brings people together to cultivate and strengthen community, cross movement solidarity and to preserve and claim our histories and narratives through self-education, multimedia archives, oral history, collective memory and experiential learning. 

Residency Program: Honoring Yuri’s praxis of “radical hospitality” and providing people and communities with space and accommodations in her Harlem home, the YKSP Residency Program provides short-term residencies for educators, scholars, artists and organizers with a safe and conveniently located space in Central Harlem to live and work while visiting NYC for research, arts or community-based projects, or organizing work.

Yuri Kochiyama Archives and Learning  Resources: 

Led by co-director Akemi Kochiyama-Ladson, the YKSP provides lectures about Yuri’s life and work, Harlem walking tours, and access to the Kochiyama Family Collection. To learn more about the YKSP Freedom School, inquire about publishing rights or access to the family’s private collection, or to book a speaker or tour, please contact us directly at contactyksp@gmail.com.

Co-Director, Akemi Kochiyama-Ladson is a Harlem-based writer, scholar-activist and consultant whose work is focused on community building, solidarity and social justice. Akemi is Yuri’s granddaughter and co-editor of Passing It On: A Memoir by Yuri Kochiyama. 

Co-Director, Audee Kochiyama-Holman is the Director of Alumni Relations at the Asian Law Caucus, a Board member of EastSide Arts Alliance and an Advisory Council member of the Asian Prisoners Support Committee. Audee leads engagement, programming and events with our West Coast partners and collaborators. She is Yuri’s daughter and co-editor of Passing it On: A Memoir by Yuri Kochiyama.

Advisors:

Huong Nguyen-Yap | Vice President for Equity and Justice at Northern California Grantmakers

Karen Ijichi Perkins | Ijichi Perkins and Associates: Planning Consultant 

Peggy Saika | Former CEO, Common Counsel and former Executive Director, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP)

Speaker Request/Inquiry:

To make a speaker request/inquiry, please complete the form here.

Who We Are