Yuri Kochiyama

No black soldiers, even wearing a uniform, can go in anywhere on the main drag.

I was shocked.

Then I got really interested and wanted to find out everything I could about what black people have gone through.

And it made me ashamed when I could think of Asians who were just as racist as whites towards Blacks anyway.

racism is something that it seemed like all people of color if not people of color it would be poor people have gone through that this country is not only race conscious but class conscious

Wow.

Right, right?

By the time I had six kids, we had to move to a larger apartment.

And, you know, we were living in the housing project, low-income housing.

And they were building a new low-income housing in Harlem.

Gee, Harlem, I mean, activism.

I mean, Harlem was the place to go.

During the summer of 63, it was a fight for jobs for Black and Puerto Ricans.

The hearing started after the summer and one day Malcolm walked through the door.

All the black activists

all ran over to Malcolm and circled him.

They were shaking hands with him.

I thought, gee, I want to shake his hands too, you know.

But I thought, gee, maybe it's not right for me because I'm not black and somebody's not going to like that, you know, wondering why Asians want to do that.

And I said, doggone it, I'm going to somehow, I'm going to shake his hand.