Unshackle the Women of North Korea (2022-03-25)

Two North Korean refugees who are members of the Freedom Speakers International (FSI) North Korean Refugee Keynote Speakers Network were featured witnesses at a United Nations session.

Songmi Han (co-author of Greenlight to Freedom) and Minhee Na (YouTuber and TV commentator) were the featured witnesses, giving their most high-profile speeches.

I gave the closing remarks.

Songmi joined FSI in 2019 with no intention of ever telling her story. She had escaped to South Korea in 2011, and had remained silent about her story. Although she had not yet given a speech, I recommended her to the North Korea Freedom Coalition as a speaker at the UN event. Then worked with her to get her ready. She gave her first speech on February 19^th at an FSI event. Since then, she has given four speeches, with three different texts. So it hasn’t been a case of her repeatedly giving the same speech.

* * *

Minhee joined FSI in 2017, at that time she didn’t want to be identified as being from North Korea. She escaped to South Korea in 2015. She began opening up, first giving speeches with us with her identity still being revealed. She began appearing on South Korean TV and became a public speaker with FSI.

There were the usual hiccups that come with organizing an international event online, but we had an extra challenge when Songmi caught COVID-19.

In my case, I was working so much on getting Songmi and Minhee prepared (and the usual work that comes with being co-founder of an NGO) that it wasn’t until about 3 am the day of the event that I wrote my remarks. I had been scheduled to give the Opening Remarks, then that got switched to giving Closing Remarks.

Five organizations came together to make the event happen. North Korea Freedom Coalition, Jubilee Campaign, Defense Forum Foundation, the Isabella Foundation, and Freedom Speakers International.

Behind the scenes, FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee helped coordinate everything.

It was the start of a busy day!

www.fsi21.org

2015-10-09 TNKR tutor flies from Jeju to Seoul

Today is a holiday in Korea, but that didn't mean that studying in Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) had a day off. TNKR co-directors Eunkoo Lee and Casey Lartigue joined a class by the tutor in TNKR who has won the "Came the Longest Distance" award. Afsha flew from Jeju Island to Seoul to tutor one of the learners in TNKR. The only way anyone will be able to top her will be if the person flies from a different country! Her student today has been in our program for several months, all of his tutors talk about what a great student he is! Focused, friendly, eager to learn.

Teach North Korean Refugees--directions to Mulmangcho Human Rights Institute

DIRECTIONS to Mulmangcho Institute=Easy, easy, easy. Almost like they chose the location for the people who get lost within a block from home... * Bangbae station on line 2, exit 1. Walk to the top of the stairs. * Look to your left. There will be a Woori Bank teller machine. * Standing, looking directly at the teller machine location, walk inside the building to the right of it, under the navy blue sign with the telephone number "587-4145-6..." Walk up to the 3rd floor, room 305. That's it. After you leave the subway exit, it will take you about 5 seconds to get to the building. I don't have a Naver map for it, but if you are driving, use the Bangbae subway as a landmark. Bangbae station (line 2) exit 1 Woori Bank Bd (우리은행건물) #305호 I know people won't believe me, they have been lied to so many times by people in Korea who said a location was "easy to find." I have learned that "easy to find" in Korea means: “Sure, just go down ...

How not to get your ass beat by the police

The black president of the United States stupidly commented on the arrest of a black Harvard professor in his own home by a white police officer. Some random thoughts and memories: * I'm sure most people are still trying to figure out who Prof. Gates is. As G.K. Chesterton once wrote: "Journalism consists largely in saying 'Lord Jones is dead' to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive." * Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Gates' arrest was "every black man's nightmare." Perhaps. But having a criminal in my house is even more of a nightmare. Also, having the president of the United States talk off the cuff about me about something he doesn't know is pretty bad. And getting shot by a cop after I escalated a situation would also be worse than getting arrested. Anyway, I have had my own dealings with the police over the years: * Back when I was a college student many many moons ago, one of my brothers and I got stopped by police in Bro...

Walter E. Williams on Rush Limbaugh

Professor Walter E. Williams will be hosting the Rush Limbaugh Show 8/24/10 from noon-3 p.m. EST. Thomas Sowell will be his featured guest the second hour. In case you can't hear the show or can't wait, you can listen to me interview him back in 2007 (hit the free user button, wait for countdown, then download). We discussed reparations for slavery during one show and the minimum wage on another. By the way, I was really thankful that he agreed to be on my show twice during the three months I was on the air. I interviewed him another time when I was a guest host and he interviewed me on the Rush Limbaugh about a paper I wrote about education in Washington, D.C. When I contacted him and told him that I was going to have my own show and that I would be delighted if he would come on from time to time, he hesitated at first. I waited. He then said it would be okay. I know he won't do anything if it is inconvenient for himself, so I asked if there was a conflict. He said he had...

Happy Birthday post!

for this fundraiser: https://give.lovetnkr.com/en/casey-bday

The Casey Lartigue Show!

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