Today I want to share with you a paper I wrote for my American Studies class with Professor Michael Jeffries (11/10, would recommend ^_^) called The Real Barack Obama.
The assignment was to pick a speech that was delivered for a political or social movement and analyze it for it’s purpose, intention, and effect. I chose one of my personal heroes, Yuri Kochiyama, as the person whose oration I wanted to study.
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Yuri Kochiyama’s Consciousness Is Power
Yuri Kochiyama was an activist who advocated for the rights of Asian Americans and other “political prisoners” in the United States. As a prominent Civil Rights figure of Asian descent during the mid 20th century, she gathered fame and notoriety for her friendship with Malcolm X and other leaders of the Black Liberation movement.
In November of 1995, at the age of 74, Kochiyama gave a speech at the Asian American Convocation at Brown University. The transcript of Consciousness Is Power I will be analyzing in this essay was taken from Ripples of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches, a collection of speeches published in 2003. In this oration, Kochiyama addresses an audience of mostly Asian American college students; by simultaneously giving a history lesson of the Asian/Pacific movement and asserting a contemporary call to action, she attempts to convince the young Asian American community at Brown University to adopt a consciousness-raising model in their activism and their lives.
Throughout her speech, Kochiyama frequently refers to the 60s and 70s as a time of great significance for the Asian/Pacific movement. Although historically accurate, references to these decades are also a reflection of her own involvement in social movements which peaked during these decades. As an English teacher for immigrants and community organizer in Harlem, she built a life with her family that was dedicated to the empowerment of underprivileged peoples and formed strong bonds with civil rights activist groups like the Freedom Riders and Black Panther Party.
Kochiyama was inspired to become an activist after witnessing her father get arrested by the FBI shortly after the Japanese Empire bombing of Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066, which ordered the removal of all people of Japanese descent who were considered to be a threat to the country, and her family was then detained and sent to a concentration camp[1] in Arkansas. Her own experience of racial discrimination opened her eyes to the many injustices imposed by the country she loved, and after her family’s release from the camps she and her husband, Bill, moved to Harlem, New York where they began to devote their lives to political activism. Yuri and Bill Kochiyama publicly and effectively advocated for reparations for Asian Americans who were subject to “internment” during World War II, which led to the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, granting 20,000USD to each surviving internee who was either an American citizen or legal permanent resident of the U.S.[2]
As national protest against the Vietnam War grew in the mid sixties, Kochiyama became a mentor to Asian American activists whose work focused on bringing about radical changes in race relations and approaches to achieving justice for Asians in the United States. She spoke at over 100 academic institutions throughout her lifetime to spread the message of the Asian/Pacific movement throughout the country; her address at the Asian American convocation at Brown University is an example of such advocacy and activism.
Although audio and visual recordings of Kochiyama’s public orations during the peak of her activism are scarce, more recent interviews conducted by documentarians and journalists give insight to the kind of speaker she was. Imagine a 75-year-old Kochiyama, gray soft curls pointing in all directions out of her head, wearing clear rimmed glasses and a combination of black and gray clothes, walking up to the podium to a raucous applause from the predominantly Asian American audience at Brown. Those who know their history feel the significance of hearing Kochiyama speak, both because of her accomplishments and her age. How much longer will we have this woman in our presence? She has seen and lived through so much – what wisdom will she part with us now?
At first glance she looks like she could be an elderly relative of one of the audience members. Standing at around five feet tall, she does not have the dominant physical presence of Malcolm X (6’4’’) or the booming and memorable voice of Martin Luther King Jr. Her voice, amplified by the microphone, echoes throughout the auditorium reaching those in the back of the room who can barely see her. Making frequent references to the notes clutched in her small and wrinkled hands, Kochiyama addresses her brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters with this opening line:
When we think of the question of how Asian Americans can fit into this society, we must be conscious that, although this is supposed to be an open and democratic society, there is a polarization by race and class.
This is her style: no sugar coating and straight to the point. Kochiyama immediately delves into an overview of intersectional Asian American issues in contemporary America, as well as a definition of allies and oppositions. She then states that understanding our place in the world “as an individual” is important for all of us. She declares her hope that “consciousness-raising” – a core concept of her own activism – can serve as the key to individual and collective freedom. Kochiyama describes consciousness-raising as a “‘doing together’ kind of thing; sharing with one another; learning in concert with others…to raise the consciousness of a group, or masses of people; not just one person or select people.”
In the next section of her speech, Kochiyama talks about why this activism matters. She speaks of “two Americas” – one predominantly white and affluent, the other more colorful and underserved – and Asian peoples’ place in these Americas. The repetition of the word “measure” in lines like “how do we measure this society?” and “how do we measure the Asians?” is intentionally provocative. Kochiyama implicitly reminds us of the kind of “measuring” our immigrant foreparents underwent as outsiders in this country. She points to the history of Asians and other migrant/minority populations in the U.S. being judged for how they “measure” in comparison to the free, the legal, the white American citizen. Kochiyama evokes this complicated history of American citizenship to further her message of a need for unity amongst the “Asian-American family”.
Despite historical contradictions, we have more in common than differences to separate us…The reality of our commonality should bring Asians together, yet be flexible enough to understand that we must transcend race, color, religious and class differences if we are to bridge gaps that separate people in America from each other.
These lines are reminiscent of Malcolm X’s words “there can be no black-white unity until there is first some black unity. We cannot think of uniting with others until after we have first united among ourselves.”[3] Malcolm’s profound influence on Kochiyama’s life philosophy can be felt throughout her oration, but is underscored when she speaks about the importance of international Asian solidarity. Just as Malcolm called on his fellow Black Americans to stand with their Brazilian, Haitian and Venezuelan brothers in 1965, Kochiyama tells Brown University students that Asian American solidarity must include members of all Asian ethnicities represented in the U.S. as well as oppressed Asian populations abroad. Especially for those familiar with the Civil Rights movement, this implicit reference to ideologies of Malcolm X hints at Kochiyama’s familiarity with his work and her deep rooted history in the movement itself. As she narrates details of the Asian American Movement in the 60s and 70s, she refers to the “Pan-Asian” nature of the movement, expressing the need for local and global solidarity. Kochiyama makes it clear here that she believes unity is the greatest strength in a movement.
She also takes a moment in this speech to offer her own explanation and criticisms of the War in Vietnam. She tells the audience that Vietnam was forced to fight a “David and Goliath battle,” one in which the Vietnamese freedom fighters sacrificed for and won independence. She connects the war to the “consciousness-raising” experience Asian American students had at the time to question the systems they lived under and perpetuated. This section of the speech (in which she makes an admirable reference to Ho Chi Minh) is an example of her adamant criticism of the American Empire, which often resulted in criticisms of Kochiyama herself. In the early 2000s, Kochiyama was quoted in an interview saying she admired Osama bin Laden and placed him in the same category as Malcolm X and Che Guevara.[4] Taken out of context, this quote may come off as illogical or difficult to support, even for the most radical activists. However, reading this excerpt of the speech in 1995, one can understand Kochiyama’s admiration of anti-American leaders spurs from her intense condemnation of “American imperialism, colonialism, chauvinism, and racism.”
Without resources that would hint at the reception of this speech, one is left to imagine how an audience of Brown University students in 1995 would have reacted or responded to this section on Vietnam. Most of these students were born when the Vietnam War was coming to an end, and were much further removed from the peak of the protests than Kochiyama herself. Their knowledge of the war most likely came from textbooks and teachers following a set, patriotic school curriculum, and hearing Kochiyama’s first-hand experiences and opinions may have served as a powerful reminder of America’s colonial history. It could have also dissuaded the less radical, more traditionally patriotic students in the audience from fully engaging with the message of her oration, which she really gets into towards the end of her speech. Like many other radical leaders, at times Kochiyama’s ideas serve to alienate rather than engage.
This alienation, if it occurred for members of the Brown audience, would have be unfortunate since the most powerful section of the speech is its ending. Throughout her speech, she says “we” and “our” when recounting the collective narrative of Asian Americans, underscoring her point of solidarity being the impetus for justice – not once does she refer to herself in the singular form nor speak specifically of personal experiences in isolation. In the last section, though, Kochiyama shifts from the first person to second person narrative as she transitions from history lesson to a direct call to action:
But what is happening today? Affirmative action is being contested, and may be going, going, gone — unless it is fought for again. It is your generation that must sustain it, save it… Don’t let affirmative action die! Revive it! Fight for it!
This sudden narrative switch and series of exclamations serve to ignite a sense of urgency and responsibility among the audience. The specificity of the exclamation, which calls for the upholding of affirmative action, serves to draw together seemingly abstract terms like chauvinism or racism with the daily lives of university students.
Kochiyama ends her speech by reminding the audience of the power of consciousness-raising, a “perfect vehicle for college students” to engage in decolonization. The tone and language of the entire speech befits the university setting and audience, especially in its final lines. This elderly woman, who could be anyone’s halmeoni, obaachan, or grandma, reminds the young audience that the hard work is not finished. “Be sure that power will not be abusively used,” she says, and passes the activist baton to the next generation of changemakers: “Tomorrow’s world is yours to build.”
As a student at Wellesley College in 2016 studying this speech, I am caught between being inspired and discouraged. The message I’ve received from Kochiyama is that I must know myself, my families’ histories, and my place in the world, to know what to fight for or against. I’ve come to embrace this approach to life and activism during my time at Wellesley, but am suspicious as to how productive it is. Kochiyama calls on us to use consciousness-raising as a tool in fighting all of the horrible “-isms” of the world, and even builds credibility by naming groups that successfully engaged in consciousness-raising like the Black Panthers, Young Lords, American Indian Movement, as well as various Asian groups like I Wor Kuen and Triple A in NY. But I am urged to question the “success” of this model of achieving justice. If consciousness-raising actually works, why are we still where we are today in America? Why could someone give this exact speech in front of members of the Pan Asian Council or Asian Alliance at Wellesley today, and most audiences wouldn’t realize two decades have past since its original oration?
Kochiyama’s credibility could also be questioned as she was a proponent of racial separatism (i.e. in supporting the Black Panthers) but also of integration. As I struggle to figure out my own understandings of what justice looks like, as I tackle with my own position as a multiracial American-Japanese woman in the United States, Kochiyama serves as both an inspiration to learn about and appreciate my own individuality, and a reminder of how much work is yet to be done.
Works Cited
Fujino, Diane Carol., Steve Aoki, and Jay Tseng. Yuri Kochiyama. Densho Encyclopedia, 2014.
Fujino, Diane Carol. Heartbeat of Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Yuri Kochiyama. University of Minnesota Press, 2004.
Gottheimer, Josh. Ripples of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2003.
“American Rhetoric: Movie Speech from Malcolm X – Press Conference on Black Nationalism.” Accessed October 11, 2016
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechmalcolmxpressconference.html
[1] Kochiyama makes a point in her essay, Then Came the War, to accurately refer to these camps as concentration instead of internment camps
[2] Fujino, Diane C. Yuri Kochiyama
[3] Malcolm X
[4] Fujino, Diane C. Heartbeat of Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Yuri Kochiyama