Kai Naima Williams

Yuri Kochiyama was a revolutionary! The legacy of her life's work as a civil rights activist has been beautifully documented in a children's picture book written by Kai Naima Williams, Harlem-born poet, artist, and Yuri's great-granddaughter. The Bridges Yuri Built: How Yuri Kochiyama Marched Across Movements walks readers through her origin story of becoming one of the country's most important advocators for Asian American rights.

In our interview with Kai, she pinpoints the early beginnings of Kochiyama's life when her family was imprisoned in the Japanese-American Concentration camps during World World II. This horrific moment in America's history set in motion Kochiyama's push to live a life committed to ensuring the freedom of all minorities through social change. We also talk about Kochiyama's friendship with Malcolm X, and how that relationship encouraged her to become a freedom fighter.