FSI's Week in Review (9/12-9/18)

North Korean refugee authors

Youngnam Eom visited the office to discuss his book. He first joined us in 2015 even before we had established an official organization.

Eunmi Park visited the office to discuss her book. She first joined us in 2014 shortly after she arrived in South Korea. When she was ready to publish her book she came to us even though we are still newbies in the publishing world.

Eunmi even publicly announced that she was publishing her book with us. She comes to our office often to work on her book. It helps that she can spend time discussing it in Korean with FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee.

Others can help with discussing the outline, structure, which things to emphasize, etc. But still, being an author means spending a lot of time by yourself. When it is a memoir, it means reflecting on yourself, your life and others who have been harmful or helpful.

YouTube recording

Eunkoo Lee and I did a recording with FSI keynote speaker Yusung Park for a huge organization. I don’t enjoy such recordings but will do them when asked. We should be posting the link soon.

Songmi Han updates

• She published a lovely excerpt from her memoir Greenlight to Freedom at the Voices from the North blog at the Korea Times.

• Songmi did an interview with North Korean refugee influencer Kang Nara which so far has been uploaded in three different parts. Of course, I was delighted when they mentioned me in this one and showed the book.

By the way, Nara was one of our students in 2018 and she was one of the refugees who was in the incredible Happy Birthday video for me.

• An FSI fan designed a Greenlight to Freedom ice tumbler! Because Songmi will be going to the USA we thought this could be an opportunity to ship them at a much cheaper rate than the crazy COVID international shipping rates.

Act now! We will be processing the orders at the close of business on September 20th KST and will ship them directly from the USA.

Cato Institute

The Cato Institute has invited me to be a panelist at a forum on October 18th. Please check with the Cato Institute for registration and event information. It is a good reminder or will inform others that my professional career didn’t start with North Korean refugees.

https://www.cato.org/events/assessing-two-decades-education-reform-catos-center-educational-freedom-turns-20

Speech with tourists

I posted about it already, check here!

Board of directors

FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee and I made a presentation before FSI’s board of directors about our vision for the organization. It was an incredible meeting and a reminder about how the organization has gone from nothing to something special.

Eunkoo is shy, she prefers not to engage in public speaking, so my style is to tell her "no problem, you don't have to speak," then call on her anyway.

She used to thank me for not pushing her to speak and for taking the lead in outreach, I have been telling her for a few years that eventually we would need Koreans to be the public face of FSI. Lately she has been thanking me for pushing her to speak.

Our board is stronger than ever. The next time we meet, I am going to give a presentation about my own experiences on boards of directors.

Formerly, I was a member of the following boards of directors and boards of trustees:

* Black Alliance for Educational Options

* Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association

* Dupont Circle Public Charter School

* The Young Executive Board of the Washington Scholarship Fund

* The William Doar Public Charter School for the Performing Arts

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Greenlight to Freedom

"Yoegi Anjuseyo!"

* I have a short reflection in today's Korea Times about an encounter with an unfriendly looking Korean man on the subway. It was a reminder not to be too quick in judging people in Korea. 09-13-2011 16:47 'Yeogi Anjeuseyo!' By Casey Lartigue Jr. The recent incident in which an American English teacher bullied an elderly Korean man and other passengers on the bus reminded me of a more pleasing incident from years ago. I was on the subway, taking the train outside of Seoul for a work assignment. I have the habit of standing on the subway to strategically position myself near the doors in case my stop magically appears. On that particular day, there was a Korean man STARING at me. Not just looking at me, but intensely staring at me. He had an incredible frown on his face. Not just for one stop, but for several stops the guy just kept staring at me. If I had known more Korean then I would have been able to curse him ...

Michael Breen discussion at 10 Magazine

Yesterday I attended a discussion with writer Michael Breen, hosted by Barry Welsh. Very often, when I attend a speech or discussion about a topic I know a lot about, I often think about ways the speaker/facilitator/discussant could have done better. But I didn't feel that way about Breen, it was one of those times that I really felt like I had a lot to learn and should listen more than talk. He's been in Korea for three decades, working as a reporter, commentator, communications specialist. He reminds me of Andrei Lankov in that his analysis seems to be based on observation of how things work rather than trying to get the world to fit his biases. I don't know him, so his friends may say he is a raging ideologue, but that's not the impression I had yesterday and based on his writings. Michael Breen (L) and Casey Lartigue I first read his book The Koreans about a decade ago. It was a delightful read, that was both warm to Koreans but also critical at times. Yes...

Park Jin welcoming remarks to FSI (and Casey Lartigue)

National Assembly member Park Jin makes the welcoming remarks at FSI's conference featuring North Korean diplomats. Park Jin | Greeting message to FSI and Casey Lartigue mention - YouTube

2020-11-26 My basketball story

This photo was uploaded today by my aunt Annette. This was back in the day, when 1) I had a head full of hair and 2) played basketball a lot. That first year of playing organized basketball, I focused on playing defense. It seemed that everyone wanted to shoot the ball, so I passed the ball and played defense. I probably led the league in steals, rebounds and blocked shots. I enjoyed taking on the best player from the other team, I felt like I would get better, quickly. The second year, I was a different player. I will never forget the first game that second year--we lost 29 to 26, I scored 18 points. I probably led the universe in scoring that second year, although we didn't win much. One thing I learned from that experience is that one great player 9 (at least in his own mind) can't beat a team. An eye injury ended my pro career before it began, to this day I still have floaters in my eyes because of the injury. I started wearing glasses, but the problem never went away. On t...

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 ...

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