Her experience of being incarcerated during World War II in an "Assembly
Center" for Japanese Americans was the pivotal experience that
led Kochiyama to begin to examine racism and injustice in society.
Another turning point in her activist career came when she moved her
family to Harlem in 1960 and developed a close and ongoing relationship
with Malcom X and the Black Panthers. Today at 81, she lives in Oakland,
California, where she focuses most of her energy on fighting on behalf
of political prisoners.
QUOTE:
"Aging should be something natural. It's part of life. Attitude
has a lot to do with it. I didn't become politically active until
I was forty. Up until then, I was just being a mother. I was a Sunday
School teacher, did a lot of work babysitting...I was totally different
than what I became. The Civil Rights Movement was my call to action.
Now I'm living among older people and I feel so lucky because I never
went around with people my age, I was always with young people. This
is a life I needed to know and I am so glad because I have learned
so much of what other people have gone through. Age has really aided
me because it has broadened my perspective." |
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