Yuri Kochiyama, born on May 19,1921 in Los Angeles, was a Japanese American civil rights activist. She was the foundation for social, political, and cultural movements across many generations to come. Being born and raised as a Japanese American in Los Angeles around the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she faced many hardships regarding racism along with her family. After the tragic death of her father due to doctors refusing to treat him because he was the only Japanese man in the hospital after the Pearl Harbor attack, in 1943 Kochiyama and her family were sent to a concentration camp for two years. It was because of this that Kochiyama became heavily involved in governmental abuses, racial affairs, and began her journey in activism. In her chase to build more political movements for Asian Americans, she founded the Asian American Action (AAA) which was one of the earliest Asian American activist groups. This political organization played an important role in advocating for the community by raising awareness primarily through engaging others in protests. Kochiyama did not only base her movements on Asian American civil and human rights, but she also saw common grounds between the struggles for justice and equality across racial, ethnic, and cultural differences, and made sure she put her efforts towards the rights of African Native, and Latin Americans. During the 1960’s in Harlem, Kochiyama participated in Asian American, Black, and Third world movements for civil and human rights, ethnic studies, and against war in Vietnam. Kochiyama’s hunt for racial and political justice has left an impact through social, political, cultural and civil rights movements that has and will not be forgotten.