Skip to main content

2020-11-26 Seriously having fun!


Yes, TNKR does serious work!
Yes, TNKR has fun!

Despite the virus, we have had a couple of busy fun days!

In this blog post:

* Eunhee Park gives speech to UN Society of London School of Economics
* TNKR co-founders meet with leaders of Korean foundation
* Interview with a researcher
* TNKR office life
* One year later!
* South Korean supporters gear up for Giving Tuesday Korea
* P.S.: I still love hoops


* Eunhee Park gives speech to UN Society of London School of Economics

Probably the highlight of the week was TNKR Development Coordinator Eunhee Park giving a speech to the UN Society of the London School of Economics. More than 40 people were consistently on the call.

* The Academic Chair welcomed everyone to the webinar.
* TNKR's cofounders Casey Lartigue and Eunkoo Lee gave an introduction.
* Eunhee gave a speech, then engaged in Q&A with the audience. Eunkoo and I added some context or additional information.

Zoom, of course, can't compare with in-person events, but it was still a nice time. But next time, I hope we can make it to London.






* * *

* TNKR co-founders meet with leaders of Korean foundation

We don't get out as much as we did before the virus began destroying the world, but today Eunkoo and I did meet with the leaders of a Korean foundation. They have been watching TNKR for a while, and finally are prepared to give TNKR seed money.

It takes time to build up trust with foundations and organizations giving out money. They don't want to deal with fly-by-night associations or organizations. In this case, many of our students have talked us up to the foundation leaders. 

The organization will be giving us some support next year, then if the relationship continues to grow, we could get more support in the future. Back in 2015 when we were trying to make TNKR into an official organization, I was told by a fan that we wouldn't be able to get support from Korean organizations. It has certainly been difficult, thankfully we were able to survive thanks to donors from around the world. And now we have strong enough of a reputation that even some Korean organizations are taking us seriously.


* * *

 Interview with a researcher

She had many many questions! It is good to have such interviews, it gives me a chance to answer questions that people have about TNKR. We will be having another interview tomorrow, I think it will be our third one this week.



* * *

TNKR office life

We are an official NGO, which means we have a lot of reporting to do. Sometimes, it feels that the paperwork is more important than the real work. When we receive funding from an organization, then we must report many things to them. 

It was a lot easier when we were poorer and relied on fundraising, but of course we could have less of an impact. The more money we raise from organizations and foundations, the more we can lose control of our mission, which is why it remains important for us to continue engaging in grassroots fundraising.

And then of course there is the mountain of paperwork dealing with government.

Despite that, we have a happy office atmosphere! Sharon works so hard sometimes that we must remind her to eat. It is joyful to have her with us. She started as a student in TNKR, began working with us part-time in 2018, and returned to us last year when we were able to raise enough money to bring her back.






* One year later

She joined us one year ago as a student. She is one of the wonderful and optimistic people that I have ever met, we are so lucky she is with us.

We met a few days ago to catch up on things because we haven't had a chance to meet in quite a while. TNKR recently made some internal changes, giving me the chance to meet more often with North Korean refugees. In our early freelance days, I could meet with North Korean refugees as a senior mentor. When we had to institutionalize operations as part of our application process to become an official NGO, we lost part of our soul. With recent internal changes we have made, I should be able to resume mentoring refugees. I expect TNKR to be more dynamic in 2021 as I work more closely with TNKR participants.

Meeting with her reminds me why I first started engaging with North Korean refugees!



* South Korean supporters gear up for Giving Tuesday Korea

Giving Tuesday is starting operations in South Korea, and TNKR is leading the effort. We will be kicking off Giving Tuesday Korea with an event at the Korea Press Center on 12/1.

We have many South Koreans who have joined the effort!

If things go well, then the event at the Press Center will be livestreamed over YouTube.















I am the one who came up with the idea of bringing Giving Tuesday to Korea, but the one getting it done is TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee! She will need a break after December 1st, so I hope the world will leave her alone after that.

* * *

* P.S.: I still love hoops

This morning my aunt Annette shared a photo of me from my younger days. I wrote a really long post about it. I'm the one with the really cool Afro, which I will be asking Santa to give to me this year.

Popular posts from this blog

Radio, Harvard

I'll be a guest on XM 169 The Power this morning from 10:15 a.m. EST. I'll be talking about teaching English abroad. I'll be interviewed by Brian Higgins of MYB Talk . I sang last night for about five hours with friends but I'm sure my voice will be fine. Tuesday, I'll be interviewed by a Harvard University representative who wants my input on a new doctoral program for education leaders . It is a collaboration between the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School. Some folks at the Booker Rising site are (again) reminding me that I'm not as smart as I think I am. CJL

Scam? Yo Momma!

Note: This was originally posted shortly after Jesse Lee Peterson's book was published, reposted in 2005, and now because of a fight between black customers and a Korean merchant in Dallas, Texas. Scam? Yo Momma! During the summer of 2002 I was an observer to a dispute between the Asian owners of a Chinese takeout and some of their black customers in Washington, D.C. The month-long boycott began when a local activist accused a cook at a Chinese takeout of attempting to cook a piece of chicken he had allegedly dropped on the floor. Despite the best efforts of human rights activist Dick Gregory, popular talk-show host Joe Madison, and Rev. Walter Fauntroy, the protestors were unable to coax any media to report on the protest. On some days there were, by my unofficial count, as many as 100 people chanting songs and marching. But one key person was missing: Rev. Jesse Jackson. It was important to the foot soldiers at the boycott that someone from the media report on...

Get rid of that watermelon!

Part 1: When I was a youngster I used to collect Confederate money, posters and photographs with caricatures of blacks, and "No blacks allowed signs." I loved the money because it was a reminder of how far the sorry Confederacy had fallen. I had one poster of a dark-skinned black boy munching on a watermelon. I would look at that small poster and wonder, "What in the world is wrong with anyone wanting to eat watermelon?" Yes, white people, I'm talking to you. Your parents, grandparents, and other ancestors who thought making fun of blacks for eating watermelon were crazy ! Even people who say that nothing has changed in race relations must acknowledge that the many stereotypes of blacks are no longer prevalent. But then, there are also some ready to remind us of days-gone-by by debunking stuff that doesn't need to be debunked today. According to the Washington Post: The sound you just heard was yet another racial stereotype going kersplat ! Some ...

How long until they get arrested? Not long enough!!!

As I recently noted, some executives were arrested for putting industrial ethanol in food they sold. I noted: "Of course, it seems that NO ONE checks on the stuff sold on the streets of Seoul..." I haven't been this wrong since 1982! What will happen to these folks? The Korea Times reports: 24 Percent of Ice Cream Contaminated With Germs About a quarter of ice cream and ice at restaurants and drink shops in Seoul is contaminated with high levels of bacteria that can cause food poisoning, according to Seoul City, Monday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) inspected 74 ice cream shops, fast food franchises, coffee houses and bakeries. Among the shops selling ice cream and ice, 18 shops sold products that contained more than the permitted levels of bacteria such as colon bacillus and staphylococcus aureus that can cause food poisoning. I love 팥빙수 (patbingsu) so I would support the death penalty for anyone selling contaminated stuff in it. The city government also inspec...

Mentoring while Black (Korea Times 2/16/2023)

  Mentoring while Black by Casey Lartigue Jr. February 16, 2023 www.patreon.com/caseylartigue