Bo Young Lee 이보영

Over the years, many folks have asked me why I have my 한국이름/Hangook Erhum/Korean name in my LinkedIn profile name. The answer is quite simple. It's my name. It's my real name. It's the name on my birth certificate, and it's the name my parents gave me.

You may not realize this, but the name 'Bo Young Lee' is a Westernization of my real name. Bo Young Lee is a Western name because it doesn't exist in Korea. You don't just have a Western name by calling yourself Jenny or Grace. If you were to read my 한국 name in its proper phonetic form, it would read

E Boh Young

My last name is not Lee. It's pronounced E. It's a single vowel. However, US immigration is not so keen on a single-letter surname. And so they selected the closest approximation to E, the Scottish/Scandinavian surname Lee, and that's how my family was rebranded.

What I love the most, however, about having my 한국 name in my profile is that every time someone tags me in a post, their post automatically contains 한글 문자/Hangur Munjah/Korean letters. It tickles me to see Korean in an otherwise entirely English post. And I have to believe that seeing 한글 문자 unconsciously impacts everyone who sees it.

It's my little nod to the diversity inherent in this world. And I know from direct feedback that I've also inspired other people to put their real, authentic, non-western names in their LinkedIn. And that makes me happy.

There are Americans who are afraid of speaking out against the new administration because they are afraid they will be disappeared.

There are Americans who are afraid to speak out against the new administration because they are afraid they will be fired.

There are Americans who are afraid to speak out against the new administration because they fear that all their assets will be seized.

This is the state of the US today.

Why do I speak out?

Because when I was 9 I was violently raped and I survived and lived. I am afraid of nothing.

Because when I was 29, I was kidnapped in Malaysia for 48 hrs, had a gun held up to my head and I had my bank accounts cleared out. I survived and lived. I am afraid of nothing.

Because two years ago folks decided they wanted to try and tarnish my professional reputation, take away my means to live, and cancel me but I refused to shut up. I am afraid of nothing.

Because my grandfather was a North Korean political enemy and was hunted and yet he lived and survived. I am afraid of nothing.

Because my grandmother was born in 1920 under Japanese colonial rule, was only allowed to go to school to the age of 8, had two of her babies die in infancy due to starvation and disease, was a North Korean refugee, and still lived to watch all her granddaughters graduate not only college but get graduate degrees and become business leaders. She was afraid of nothing.

Because my father was a North Korean refugee and spent his childhood bouncing from refugee camp to refugee camp. He lived and survived. He was afraid of nothing.

Speaking out is in my DNA. Fighting for freedom is in my DNA. Always taking the side of democracy is in my DNA.

We must call out the small insanities because they will soon become the big atrocities.