The 28th episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, will air on April 2 at 1:30pm and 6:30pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, and Spectrum 56/1996, and stream on MNN2. If you miss the episode, it is archived on my youtube channel.
On this edition of BACKSTAGE pass with Lia Chang, 2023 AALDEF Justice in Action Awards were presented to Harsha G. Marti, Rep. Grace Meng and CeFaan Kim at the benefit gala co-emceed by Cindy Hsu and Sree Sreenivasan at Pier 60 in New York on March 14, which also featured special remarks by Actor Perry Yung.
Rep. Grace Meng, Harsha G. Marti, and CeFaan Kim received 2023 Justice in Action Awards at AALDEF’s annual Lunar New Year Gala in NYC. Photo by Lia Chang
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) returned to Pier Sixty for its annual Lunar New Year Gala and presented the 2023 Justice in Action Awards to Rep. Grace Meng, Harsha G. Marti, and CeFaan Kim for their outstanding achievements and efforts to advance social justice on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
Rep. Grace Meng accepts the 2023 Justice in Action Award at AALDEF’s annual Lunar New Year Gala in NYC. Photo by Lia Chang
Rep. Grace Meng was honored for her decade of service to her constituents in Queens and our country as the representative of New York’s 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Meng gave a shout out to her home borough of Queens and took a moment to remember the last time she stepped on the AALDEF stage to honor her friend, the late Congressman John Lewis, with the Justice in Action award.
Flashback- Rep. Meng presented the Justice in Action Award to Congressman John Lewis at Pier 60 in New York on February 19, 2013. Photo by Lia Chang
“AALDEF has been making ‘good trouble’ way before it became popular to do so. And AALDEF has advocated for our community’s voices and the civil rights of our community and all communities,” said Rep. Meng.
2023 Justice in Action Award recipient Harsha G. Marti and co-emcee Sree Sreenivasan. Photo by Lia Chang
Corporate leader Harsha G. Marti received the award for his dedication to diversity and equity in the workplace and his support for social justice projects in Brooklyn. Marti reflected on the incredible diversity of Asian Americans and their contributions to this country and the codeswitching many having become deft in to fit in.
“We should be able to seek the American dream without anybody questioning whether we belong here, without fearing for our safety, without having to make the false choice of being a ‘true American’ or honoring the traditions of our forbearers,” said Marti.
CeFaan Kim accepts the 2023 Justice in Action Award at AALDEF’s annual Lunar New Year Gala in NYC. Photo by Lia Chang
As a member of the press, CeFaan Kim of ABC News was recognized for his tireless coverage of the wave of anti-Asian harassment and violence. Kim used his gift of storytelling to speak truth to power on behalf of the victims he has met over the past few years. In response to the question of how we fix racism, Kim posed his own, asking, “How do we build a system so when victims fall, there is someone there to pick them up?”
The three recipients of the AALDEF Justice in Action Awards join a venerable list of activists, artists, and changemakers honored by AALDEF in the past, including the late Congressman John Lewis, Preet Bharara, John G. Chou, David Henry Hwang, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Vanita Gupta, Neal Katyal, Sandra Leung, Don H. Liu, Jose Antonio Vargas, Mira Nair, George Takei, BD Wong, Kal Penn, Ronny Chieng, and Fareed Zakaria, to name a few.
New York Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu and Lion Dance Team kicked off the celebration with a traditional lion dance. Photo by Lia Chang
Led by Grandmaster Norman Chin, the New York Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu and Lion Dance Team kicked off the celebration with a traditional lion dance.
Emcees Sree Sreenivasan and Cindy Hsu raise their glasses to the toast the audience. Photo by Lia Chang
Emcees Cindy Hsu and Sree Sreenivasan welcomed attendees, taking a few moments to remember the lives lost in the tragic shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay and also to celebrate the film Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, which swept at this weekend’s Academy Awards.
Phil Tajitsu Nash and Richard Kim, co-presidents of the AALDEF Board. Photo by Lia Chang
Richard Kim and Phil Tajitsu Nash, co-presidents of the AALDEF Board, thanked guests for their continued generosity and support for the critical work of AALDEF. “These funds help us support economic justice, combat anti-Asian hate, support educational equity, and protect our voting rights,” said Nash.
Margaret Fung, executive director of AALDEF. Photo by Lia Chang
Kim and Nash introduced Margaret Fung, executive director of AALDEF, who recounted how AALDEF has risen to meet the challenges facing Asian Americans, including anti-Asian racism and violence. “In the past year, we have seen how important it is that the Asian American community and our allies come together to speak out against injustice and to stand up for democracy,” said Fung.
Artist, actor and activist Perry Yung. Photo by Lia Chang
Finally, artist, actor and activist Perry Yung rounded out the night with a final appeal for why AALDEF matters. Yung explained that anti-Asian violence didn’t start with the COVID-19 pandemic. “It didn’t start with Vincent Chin being killed because they thought he was Japanese. It didn’t start with the Vietnam War. It didn’t start with the Korean War. It didn’t start with Executive Order 9099 that put 120,000 Japanese Americans into American concentration camps. It started when we got off the boat. And that’s why AALDEF is important.”
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), founded in 1974, is a New York-based national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans. By combining litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing, AALDEF works with Asian American communities across the country to secure human rights for all.
Lia Chang. Photo by Kalin Ivanov
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, activist, documentarian and an Award winning filmmaker and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Lia is also the host and Executive Producer of BACKSTAGE PASS WITH LIA CHANG, a weekly Arts and Entertainment and Lifestyle program that airs on Sundays at 6:30pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996 and MNN2.
Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. Her short film, When the World Was Young garnered a 2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations.
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