The Casey Lartigue Show!

Still writing by Casey Lartigue Jr. The Korea Times December 19, 2023 https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2023/12/626_365284.html

  Chosun Monthly Magazine has made an announcement (in Korean) about the Seoul Honorary Citizenship award that I received on December 9, 2022.  Our Korean staffers say that the magazine is a big deal in South Korea. Here's the overall roundup of media about the award. In the next two months, I have extended interviews coming up in two different magazines, one in the USA and one in South Korea. Both articles will be in respected publications so they should raise awareness of FSI's work that your support makes possible. * * * Support FSI via Stripe or PayPal . https://donate.stripe.com/3cs28F5IAcc85IAaEF or PayPal .

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

On February 2nd from 2-3 a.m. (Korea time), I was the featured speaker at an "Author Spotlight" by the Harvard Division of Continuing Education (DCE) and the Harvard Extension Alumni Association (HEAA) .  Watch, like, share, and comment.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmRgP3q7rQg&list=PLn7xtnmarHFq6kVvq3PxOgC8nwjn8ioBO  * * *  I will be in the USA for two weeks in March, I will kick off the trip with a speech on the campus of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HSGE) for its annual Alumni of Color Conference (AOCC). It will be a bit of a homecoming reunion, I was one of the speakers at the first HGSE AOCC in 2003.  Stay tuned, this will be preparation for a larger event later this year. Thanks to everyone who has helped make FSI's work possible. ( Stripe ) ( PayPal ).

  It was international news when 12 North Korean waitresses and a male manager who worked at a restaurant operated by the North Korean regime in China arrived in South Korea in 2016.  The waitresses have mostly maintained a low profile. There have been numerous accusations and assertions, with some saying the waitresses didn't want to escape, some accused the Park Geun-hye administration of playing politics by releasing details of the case, etc., etc., etc. My blog at the Korea Times today features an exclusive interview with one of the former North Korean waitresses who filed a criminal case against the former manager. You can read about it here on the Korea Times website. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2023/02/728_345165.html   Keep in mind that there are many more facts to the case and that it is much deeper than this brief excerpt of her comments. She also shared legal documents that I shared with the Korea Times well in advance to give them time to review t...

  Some people asked me if I watched President Biden’s State of the Union. Haha! I have seen enough of them. Not just Biden’s SOTU, but SOTUs by US presidents!  Back in 1999, I not only watched President Clinton’s SOTU, but the Cato Institute gave me the task of keeping track of all of President Clinton’s proposals and promises. Since then I have watched few SOTUs, once as a blogger at the invitation of National Public Radio. https://tinyurl.com/3dv5y452  

  Today was one of those incredible days that I will always remember. North Korean refugee Songmi Han, South Korean co-founder of FSI Eunkoo Lee and I (the Texan-American co-founder of FSI) spent 7 hours together at three different incredible events in three different parts of Seoul. We were laughing and joking almost the entire time. * 10 am book talk We started the day with a small group discussion with a family visiting from the USA. It was great for Songmi because the family was happy to hear from her. She didn’t have the pressure to make a formal speech. As the old saying goes, “If I had more time I would have written a shorter letter.” It is similar with public speaking. If I am invited to give a one hour speech, then I’m ready right now. If I get a request for a five minute speech as part of a panel then I need some time to figure out how to put that hour of content into five minutes. With no notes, Songmi told her story in great detail. The family members had not read her b...

  On December 1, 2019, I joined the Harvard Club of Korea's annual alumni dinner. Of course, no one in the room knew that the event would be canceled for the next two years because of COVID. Last night we enjoyed gathering again, with about 90 Harvard alumni and their guests meeting, talking, and networking. My special guest in 2019 was North Korean refugee Songmi Han . When she joined then she had not heard of Harvard University.  I didn't realize just how special that night was for Songmi until we worked together on what became Greenlight to Freedom .  This time, she knew what it was and was looking forward to it. * * * Mr. Dr. Prof and now Foreign Minister Jin Park was there as a special guest. He is a former president of the Harvard Club and is a special VIP every year. He gave a short speech and also the toast for the event. He gave the most incredible testimonial about me last year . He also remembered Songmi from meeting her earlier this year when she gave him a si...