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2014/01/07-09 Asia Liberty Forum (rapping, speaking in India)

 

I was honored to be a featured speaker at the second-annual Asia Liberty Forum (ALF), hosted by the Asia Center for Enterprise from Jan. 7-9 in New Delhi, India.

As much as I enjoyed speaking and, as part of the entertainment, rapping to my revised version of Salt N Pepa's 1990s song "Whattaman," that couldn't compare to the thrill I had being able to introduce and moderate the closing address that was given by North Korean refugee Ju Chan-yang. I wrote about it in the Korea Times and she had an incredible audio article about me.

This event was a turning point for TNKR. After I returned from the trip, I told FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee that we could do more with the little project, maybe even one day turn it into a real organization. 

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SPEECH

In July or August 2013, I was invited to give a speech at the Asia Liberty Forum. At that point, the fledgling little association matching North Korean refugees with volunteer tutors that Eunkoo Lee and I had started in March 2013 had been put on hold. We had started it, but I detected that people were dating, hanging out, and not really taking it seriously. I wasn't going to waste my time with a study association being used as a dating club. I turned my attention to other things.

Four things happened from the time I got the invitation in the summer of 2013 to speak in India to the moment I got on stage in January 2014.

One, the organizers of ALF asked me about other things going on in South Korea. I told them that in addition to talking about South Korean things, I could also talk about a little project I had started connecting North Korean refugees with volunteer tutors. I wasn't sure whether the project would survive, but thinking about giving a presentation gave me a chance to think about how I would handle things differently if Eunkoo and I did restart it.

Two, some of the North Korean refugee students took me out to dinner for my birthday, they wanted to ask Eunkoo and me if we could restart the tutoring project. They could see that I was right when I said that socializing would kill studying. It had to be studying or socializing. They wanted to try again, and would focus on studying rather than socializing.

Three, a North Korean refugee named Chanyang Ju made a cute little birthday card for me!

Eunkoo and I decided to restart the project. We were energized by the way the refugees responded. I told the organizers in India that one of the refugees might be able to give a speech and I could make sure she was prepared.

By the time Chanyang and I got on the plane for India, a lot had changed from the moment I had gotten the invitation. We held four language matching sessions, we began imposing our will on the project demanding that volunteers and students take it more seriously, and we began adding structure to it.

Four, I had been hired by Freedom Factory with support from the Atlas Network. Freedom Factory welcomed me bringing the Teach North Korean Refugees project. Thanks to the Atlas Network and Freedom, FSI was able to survive during its early days and grow on our own.







RAP

But it wasn't just giving a speech. To raise money for Students for Liberty, I rapped live during the conference.

That's right, the failed rapper had been invited to perform on stage!




(2021 update: I offered to rap live online to raise money for a North Korean refugee in need of dental care. The campaign was successful but my offer to rap live online expired before the funds came in.)

Moderator

It was a great conference. Giving a speech. Rapping live in front of an audience. Then I introduced Chanyang as she gave the closing speech.

For three months, volunteer Joo Yeon and I helped Chanyang get prepared for giving that speech. I had even organized a speech one night in Seoul for her to have a practice session before a live audience.

Then she was absolutely incredible.






Chanyang's speech

As Atlas Network fellow Tom Palmer said at the time, "There wasn't a dry eye in the audience" as Chanyang spoke. Most of the attendees were think tank scholars and policy wonks. Chanyang was talking about escaping from North Korea and making a new life in South Korea.









Meeting and Greeting!

We took so many photos at the conference. There are many more that others posted that I didn't download.

























































That was the beginning of our relationship with the Asia Liberty Forum.
2014, New Delhi, India
Speakers: Chanyang Ju, Casey Lartigue Jr.
2015, Kathmandu, Nepal
Speaker: Casey Lartigue
2018 Jakarta, Indonesia
Speakers: Eunhee Park, Casey Lartigue
FSI was named a finalist for the Asia Liberty Award

2019, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Speaker: Scott (Sungchull) Kim

I was scheduled to attend in 2020 and was talking about having another North Korean refugee speak there, but then COVID-19 struck.

2022: Manila, Philippines
Speaker: Yuna Jung
Workshop participant: Eunkoo Lee

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Location: New Delhi, Delhi, India

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