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<dd>Press Release for Yuri Kochiyama and Diane Fujino Author
Event<br><br>
<dd>Authors: Diane Fujino and Yuri Kochiyama<br><br>
<dd>Diane Fujino, author of Heartbeat of Struggle: The Revolutionary Life
of<br>
<dd>Yuri Kochiyama will present the newly published biography with her
honored<br>
<dd>guest Yuri Kochiyama.<br><br>
<dd>2 Book Reading Events<br>
<dd>1. Saturday, September 10 at 2 pm at UC Berkeley<br>
<dd>2. Thursday, September 8 at 6:30 pm at the African American Museum
and<br>
<dd>Library in Oakland<br><br>
<dd>See below for more information<br><br>
<dd>-------------------------------------------<br><br>
<br>
<dd>UCB Asian American Studies and Asian Pacific Student Development at
UC <br>
<dd>Berkeley are hosting the free event to honor Yuri Kochiyama.<br><br>
<dd>Date: September 10, 2005 Saturday 2:00 pm<br><br>
<dd>Where: Heller Lounge, located in MLK Student Union Building , UC
Berkeley,<br>
<dd>Bancroft Ave.and Telegraph Ave. Berkeley<br><br>
<dd>Yuri Kochiyama’s life has inspired generations. She has recently
been<br>
<dd>nominated for the “1,000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005”.
Diane<br>
<dd>Fujino has written the first biography of this courageous champion
of<br>
<dd>freedom and equality.<br><br>
<dd>On February 21, 1965, in the Audubon Ballroom, Yuri Kochiyama
cradled<br>
<dd>Malcolm X in her arms as he died, but her role as a public servant
and<br>
<dd>activist began much earlier than this pivotal public moment.
Heartbeat of<br>
<dd>Struggle is the first biography of this courageous woman, the
most<br>
<dd>prominent Asian American activist to emerge during the 1960s. Based
on<br>
<dd>extensive archival research and interviews with Kochiyama’s
family,<br>
<dd>friends, and the subject herself, Diane C. Fujino traces Kochiyama’s
life<br>
<dd>from an “all-American” childhood to her accomplishments as a
tireless<br>
<dd>defender ofand fighter forhuman rights.<br><br>
<dd>Growing up in a Japanese immigrant family in California during the
1920s<br>
<dd>and 1930s, Kochiyama was active in sports, school, and church. She
was both<br>
<dd>unquestioningly patriotic and largely unconscious of race and racism
in the<br>
<dd>United States. After Pearl Harbor, however, Kochiyama’s family was
among<br>
<dd>the thousands of Japanese Americans forcibly removed to internment
camps<br>
<dd>for the duration of the war, a traumatic experience that opened her
eyes to<br>
<dd>the existence of social injustice.<br><br>
<dd>After the war, Kochiyama moved to New York. She began her activist
career<br>
<dd>in the vibrant Black movement in Harlem in the 1960s, where she met
Malcolm<br>
<dd>X, who inspired her radical political development and the ensuing
four<br>
<dd>decades of incessant work for Black liberation, Asian American
equality,<br>
<dd>Puerto Rican independence, and political prisoner defense. Kochiyama
is<br>
<dd>widely respected for her work in forging unity among diverse
communities,<br>
<dd>especially between Asian and African Americans.<br><br>
<dd>Fujino, a scholar and activist, offers an in-depth examination
of<br>
<dd>Kochiyama’s political awakening, rich life, and impressive
achievements<br>
<dd>with particular attention to how her public role so often defied
gender,<br>
<dd>racial, and cultural norms. Heartbeat of Struggle is a source of<br>
<dd>inspiration and guidance for anyone committed to social
change.<br><br>
<dd>Diane C. Fujino is associate professor of Asian American studies at
the<br>
<dd>University of California, Santa Barbara.<br><br>
<br><br>
<dd>Eastwind Books of Berkeley<br>
<dd>2066 University Avenue; Berkeley, CA 94704<br>
<dd>phone: 510 548-2350 fax: 510 548-3697<br>
<dd><a href="http://www.ewbb.com/" eudora="autourl">www.ewbb.com<br><br>
<br>
</a>
<dd>-----------------------------------<br><br>
<br>
<dd>Thursday, September 8, 2005<br>
<dd>6:30 p.m.<br>
<dd>African American Museum and Library at Oakland<br><br>
<dd>Join us for an Evening with Diane Fujino, author of Heartbeat of
Struggle: <br>
<dd>The Revolutionary Life of Yuri Kochiyama<br><br>
<dd>with Special Guest Yuri Kochiyama<br><br>
<dd>African American Museum and Library at Oakland<br>
<dd>659 - 14th Street Oakland, CA 94612<br>
<dd>510.637.0200<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
</dl><br>
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