Yuri Kochiyama — human rights activist, once a close friend of Malcolm X and subject of the biography Heartbeat of Struggle by Diane C. Fujino — has been selected to receive an honorary doctorate from California State University.
“We are honoring an individual who has dedicated her life to community service by helping people of all ethnicities and those underserved by society in this country and around the world,” said Mo Qayoumi, president of California State University, East Bay, in a statement posted on the Frontlines of Revolutionary Struggle blog. “Ms. Kochiyama has championed freedom and a quality way of life for all people in the United States and around the world. She has served as a uniting force for civil rights and an outspoken proponent of education for all people.”
Kochiyama is one of three people who will be honored Saturday at the university’s commencement ceremony. Read more about the honor here.
Yuri Kochyama just turned 90 the other day. Phenomenal to see how influential she still is. Bay Area choreographer, and long-time Asian-American arts advocate Claudine Naganuma has taken great inspiration from Ms. Kochiyama in her latest work \”reveal FREEDOM\”. From months of conversation with this renowned civil rights activist, Ms. Naganuma has created both a perspective of U.S. history and thought provoking questions regarding current events, packaged within a sophisticated multi-disciplinary dance. The work opens June 3rd through June 5th, 2011 at the Laney College Theater in Oakland. http://www.dnaga.org