2021 FSI media

From nothing to something super special (2023-02-10)

FSI has moved into a better institutional neighborhood where we are the poorest in the area. In August 2022, I was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) and in January 2023 FSI achieved incorporation status in South Korea. This has meant that FSI must upgrade operations and structure and I am the one, as chairman and co-president, who will be blamed if it doesn’t happen. I really should not be the chairman, for a variety of reasons, but anyway I am. Eunkoo and I are not the typical executives of a growing organization. In addition to being mainly responsible for building and fundraising for the organization, we are the hands-on leaders who are constantly in contact with North Korean refugee speakers. We look forward to the day we can afford staff to handle many tasks. Until then we can expect to continue having more days like yesterday, even on Eunkoo’s birthday. 2023-02-10 Meeting #1: planning We started Eunkoo’s birthday with a planning...

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 ...

Random photos from today

I went walking around today. Whereas some people like to go walking in the mountains, I enjoy walking around in the city. Well, not D.C. or other cities with many homeless, crazy and/or armed people walking around... * * * Here's where I had lunch today. About $1.90 for a hamburger hamberger. * * * Ha-ha! Bet you never would have guessed that Batman is a drinking place in Korea! * * * Man Clinic? The Koreans walking by seemed to be very curious about why I was taking a photo of a "Man Clinic." They may know something I don't know...Actually, I wasn't curious enough to go in and find out what it was... * * * Right down the street from the Man Clinic...there's a Love Shop! I love the euphemism. "Love Shop" sounds much better than Sex Shop. I'm guessing that if you don't go to the "Love Shop" to buy condoms that you may need to visit the Man Clinic a short time later? * * * Nobo...

Korea Times bloggers' night (2018-12-12)

There are some well-known media outlets in this world that occasionally stumble upon Freedom Speakers International (FSI). But they usually pick themselves up and carry on as if nothing had happened. They sometimes quote or mention us after we help with a story but more likely they don't (especially NPR and the New York Times). The most important media outlet in the world for Freedom Speakers International: The Korea Times. They occasionally write stories about our work. I have a monthly column and a regular blog there. Here's my blog at the Korea Times, "Voices from the North." http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/sublist_728.html And my monthly column. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/sublist_626.html Instead of the Korea Times stumbling across us from time to time, I get regular reminders from editors reminding me to send in my column and blog. I know that many of the people following FSI are clicking around the internet and following many organizati...

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...

Freedom Speakers International Media, 2021
Article or Column	Publication	Date
The power of giving (Eunhee Park)	The Korea Times	01-16
The world needs more Casey Lartigues (Adam Borowski)	The Korea Times	01-20
'Workable words' (Casey Lartigue column)	The Korea Times	01-25
Students to host panel featuring refugees \| The Manitoban	The Manitoban	01-26
UM Today \| A Conversation with North Korean Refugees (umanitoba.ca)	The Manitoban	01-27
I escaped from North Korea thanks to the foreign media (Chanyang Ju)	The Korea Times	02-06
Smile: A North Korean refugee's dream (Yena Han)	The Korea Times	02-13
Pay heed to North Koreans (Casey Lartigue column)	The Korea Times	02-17
The faces of North Koreans (Lee Jeong-cheol)	The Korea Times	02-21
My mother was tortured by North Korean authorities (Lee Yul-seong)	The Korea Times	02-27
My experience of teaching English to North Korean defectors (Jenny and Brenden)	The Korea Times	03-06
탈북민 영어 유튜버 증가..."북한 실상 전달 파급력 커"	Voice of America	03-17
'I Am the Man' (Casey Lartigue column)	The Korea Times	03-18
North Korean defectors talk about escape, new life in South in English (Korea Times reporter)	The Korea Times	03-21
Finding the Voices of North Korean defectors	TBS eFM	03-24
Voice of America News (11:45 mark)	Voice of America	03-25
When I escaped to South Korea, I felt guilt (Park Sung-ae)	The Korea Times	03-21
삶을 바꿀 수 있는 기회(1)	Radio Free Asia	03-30
“영어로 북한 실상 알리겠다”.. 유튜브에 뛰어든 탈북민들	Chosun Ilbo	04-06,
Young Defectors Take to YouTube	Chosun Ilbo	04-06
삶을 바꿀 수 있는 기회 (2)	Radio Free Asia	04-06
I was in a North Korean propaganda video (Cherie Yang)	The Korea Times	04-10
Crocodiles of Pyongyang (Casey Lartigue column)	The Korea Times	04-15
North Korean defectors are getting invited to events	Voice of America	04-16
North Korean voices (Feature)	Voice of America	04-16
Ruling or fleeing North Korea’s hell	The Korea Times	04-18
코로나 속 온라인 '탈북민 돕기' 다양한 모금행사	Radio Free Asia	04-23

The Casey Lartigue Show!

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