Parkin Lee, Jean Koh Peters & Fareed Zakaria Received AALDEF Justice in Action Awards

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honorees, Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group, Yale Law School Professor Jean Koh Peters, and CNN Host Fareed Zakaria. Photo by Lia Chang

CNN Host Fareed Zakaria, Yale Law School Professor Jean Koh Peters, and Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group were honored with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s (AALDEF) 2012 Justice in Action Awards on February 8, 2012 at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers in New York.

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) celebrated the Year of the Dragon with a Lunar New Year benefit at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers in New York on February 8, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

Since 1987, AALDEF has awarded the Justice in Action Award to exceptional individuals for their efforts in advancing social justice and human rights for Asian Americans.

Aasif Mandvi, Sree Sreenivasan, Ayaz Shaikh, AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honorees CNN Host Fareed Zakaria, Yale Law School Professor Jean Koh Peters, Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group and presenter Hon. Efrain Alvarado. Photo by Lia Chang

Juju Chang, Emmy Award-winning correspondent for ABC News Nightline, and Sree Sreenivasan, Dean of Student Affairs and digital media professor at Columbia Journalism School were the co-emcees for the banquet of over 800, with Daily Show correspondent, actor, and master of satire Aasif Mandvi as the special guest.

AALDEF co-emcees Sree Sreenivasan and Juju Chang and Special Guest The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi...before they kept the audience laughing all night. Photo by Lia Chang

Chang and Sreenivasan, both long time supporters of AALDEF, began by sharing their highlights of the past year, from Chang’s interviews with celebrities like Celine Dion to Sreenivasan’s ambush by right-wing activist James O’Keefe.

AALDEF co-emcees Sree Sreenivasan and Juju Chang. Photo by Lia Chang

Among the guests at Pier Sixty in New York City were past Justice in Action Award recipients including actor BD Wong, Javade Chaudhri, Art Chong, A.B. Cruz III, Harold Koh, Sandra Leung, Don Liu and Alice Young.

Actor BD Wong, AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung, Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Photo by Lia Chang

Elected officials and judges were also part of the crowd, including New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin, and Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York – who currently graces the cover of TIME magazine (leading emcee Sreenivasan to joke that his celebrity factor was compensation for New York Knicks player Jeremy Lin’s absence.)

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group with U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin. Photo by Lia Chang

AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung. Photo by Lia Chang

AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung wished the audience a happy new year and reminded them of the necessity of their support. “There are reports of the NYPD’s targeting of Muslims and South Asians under the guise of national security,” said Fung. “Just this week, the Superbowl featured a racist political ad by Republican candidate Pete Hoekstra mocking Chinese people. So in the Year of the Dragon, we have our work cut out for us.”

AALDEF board president Tommy Shi and AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung. Photo by Lia Chang

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree CNN Host Fareed Zakaria. Photo by Lia Chang

The power of the immigrant experience in the United States was a theme throughout all three acceptance speeches. “We are creating the first universal nation,” said honoree Fareed Zakaria. “Ten years before I became a citizen, I began using the word ‘we’ to describe the United States. There isn’t a country like this where people from all over the world come and are entirely included in the process.”

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group. Photo by Lia Chang

Parkin Lee, former president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Law Foundation and Vice President of The Rockefeller Group, spoke about his childhood growing up in a Chinese hand laundry after World War II. “This country was built on the strength and creativity of immigrants who came here and made lives for themselves,” said Lee.

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree Yale Law Professor Jean Koh Lee. Photo by Lia Chang

Honoree Jean Koh Peters, the renowned children’s rights and immigrants’ rights scholar, reminded the audience of the value of public service. “Never let your skill exceed your virtue,” Peters said.

Special guest The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi. Photo by Lia Chang

The night ended with Aasif Mandvi’s hilarious and deeply politically incorrect stand-up. “I thought they were filming this portion of the show for Comedy Central, but really it’s for the NYPD,” he began. Mandvi added, “AALDEF is at the forefront of fighting for the rights of Muslim Americans. If you believe that all Americans should live in a free and equal society – I can’t imagine why you would – then please support the organization.”

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honorees Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group and CNN Host Fareed Zakaria with Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Photo by Lia Chang

Past Justice in Action Award recipients include the late civil rights icons Fred Korematsu and Gordon Hirabayashi, David Henry Hwang, Mira Nair, Deval Patrick, Salman Rushdie, Seymour Hersh, Charles Ogletree, Jr., Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Harry Belafonte, Juan Gonzalez, Margaret Cho, and Yoko Ono.

The Rockefeller Group was a 2012 Justice Circle sponsor.

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honorees, CNN Host Fareed Zakaria, Yale Law School Professor Jean Koh Peters and Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group. Photo by Lia Chang

The 2012 Justice in Action Award Recipients

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree CNN Host Fareed Zakaria. Photo by Lia Chang

Fareed Zakaria has had one of the most illustrious careers in the history of American journalism. At the age of 28, he became the managing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine straight out of Harvard University’s political science doctoral program. From 2000 to 2010, Zakaria was editor ofNewsweek International. He is currently editor-at-large of TIME magazine, host ofCNN‘s Fareed Zakaria GPS, a Washington Postcolumnist, and the New York Times bestselling author ofThe Post-American World and The Future of Freedom, among other critically-acclaimed works.

AALDEF board member Ayaz Shaikh presents CNN Host Fareed Zakaria with the AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 Award. Photo by Lia Chang

AALDEF co-emcee Sree Sreenivasan with his wife Roopa and AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree CNN Host Fareed Zakaria. Photo by Lia Chang

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree Yale Law Professor Jean Koh Lee. Photo by Lia Chang

Renowned children’s rights and immigrants’ rights scholar Jean Koh Peters began her career at Yale Law School in 1989 after teaching for three years at Columbia Law School. In 2009, she was named the Sol Goldman Clinical Professor of Law at Yale, and she currently supervises students representing clients in the Sol and Lillian Goldman Family Advocacy for Children and Youth Clinic and the Immigration Legal Services Clinic. She has authored the book Representing Children in Child Protective Proceedings: Ethical and Practical Dimensions, now in its third edition.

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree Yale Law Professor Jean Koh Lee. Photo by Lia Chang

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree Yale Law Professor Jean Koh Lee, with presenter Susan Bryant of CUNY Law School. Photo by Lia Chang

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group. Photo by Lia Chang

Before joining The Rockefeller Group as Vice President and Chief Legal Officer in 2008, Parkin Lee worked with the New York Life Insurance Company for 20 years in a variety of positions. Throughout his distinguished professional career, Lee has been a pillar of the Asian American legal community, serving as President of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Law Foundation, which awards scholarships to law students who demonstrate a commitment to serve or contribute to the Asian American community as future leaders.

Hon. Efrain Alvarado presents AALDEF’s Justice in Action 2012 Award to Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group. Photo by Lia Chang

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group. Photo by Lia Chang

AALDEF Justice in Action 2012 honoree Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group. Photo by Lia Chang

Honoree Parkin Lee with AALDEF favorite and past honoree BD Wong. Photo by Lia Chang

The Lunar New Year Gala
Since 1987, AALDEF has presented the Justice in Action Awards to exceptional individuals for their efforts in advancing social justice and human rights for Asian Americans. The Justice in Action Award recipients are chosen for their contributions to Asian American communities across the nation, as well as for their singular achievements in their respective fields.

AALDEF 2007 Justice in Action honoree Javade Chaudhri (second from left) and 2011 Justice in Action honoree AB Cruz III (fourth from the left) celebrate the Year of the Dragon with friends and colleagues at AALDEF's Lunar New Year Benefit at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers in New York on February 8, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

Each year, AALDEF presents the Justice in Action Awards at its annual Lunar New Year Gala, a celebration of Asian Americans in civil rights, law, business, and the arts.

All proceeds from the Lunar New Year Gala will go directly towards supporting AALDEF’s legal and educational programs in immigrant rights, economic justice for workers, voting rights and civic participation, affirmative action, language access to services, youth rights and educational equity, housing and environmental justice, Census policy, and the elimination of hate violence, police misconduct, and human trafficking.

The AALDEF Board of Directors: Ayaz R. Shaikh, Ko-Yung Tung, Tommy Shi, Denley Y. Chew, Lauren U.Y. Lee, Phil Nash. Photo by Lia Chang

Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. In 2010, the Library of Congress established The Lia Chang APA Theater Portfolio in the Asian Pacific American Performing Arts Collection housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian Pacific American Islander Collection.