Friday, April 3, 2009

Kochiyama fighting social norms.

Yuri Kochiyama is a cool Japanese-American Activist. We are not sure if she agreed with Malcolm X on everything. I doubt she thinks Martin Luther King is a chump as Malcolm did. (Those were different times)

She did support Malcolm in fighting for civil rights. After Malcolm left the Nation of Islam and converted to Sunni Islam she stayed loyal. Malcolm made a few enemies in the Nation of Islam and was eventually assassinated. Yuri cradled Malcolm in her arms after being shot.

What makes Kochiyama special to me is her willingness to buck societal norms and fight for what she believed in. You just know, it was not kosher for a Japanese woman to hang out with black Muslims in the 1960's. Yet, she said screw you - to the norm. Sometimes, it is social norms that stop us from doing what is right. It is the same for both Liberals and Conservatives.