South Quadrangle
Yuri Kochiyama Lounge

Yuri Kochiyama was born in San Pedro, California in 1922. After being held in World War II Japanese internment camps, she became involved in the civil rights movement. She moved to Harlem, NY with her husband and became a strong political activist and speaker. She supports black liberation, Japanese-American redress for the internment and other social justice. Yuri Kochiyama was a close friend of Malcolm X, and a member of the Organization for Afro-American Unity (OAAU) as well as many other organizations. She is most famous for the photo of her holding the nation of Islam leader after he was shot at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem in 1965. Although she no longer accepts offers for speaking engagements, she continues as an active human rights activist and still resides in Harlem, New York. The lounge was dedicated to Yuri Kochiyama on April 17, 1999. She visited South Quadrangle before the interior design of the lounge was completed.