The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) will honor Parkin Lee of The Rockefeller Group, Yale Law professor Jean Koh Peters, and Fareed Zakaria, CNN host and Time editor-at-large with the 2012 Justice in Action Awards, at its Annual Lunar New Year Gala on Wednesday, February 8, 2011 at PIER SIXTY, Chelsea Piers, in New York City.

The co-emcees for the evening are 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.

The AALDEF Justice in Action Awards recognize exceptional individuals for their outstanding achievements and contributions in advancing justice and equality. Past recipients include the late civil rights icons Fred Korematsu and Gordon Hirabayashi, David Henry Hwang, Harold Koh, Mira Nair, Deval Patrick, Salman Rushdie, BD Wong, Seymour Hersh, Charles Ogletree, Jr., Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn, Harry Belafonte, Margaret Cho, and Yoko Ono.

The Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC) and Fordham University will hold “RepresentAsian: The Changing Face of New York Theater,” an industry roundtable on February 13, 2012 at 7pm at the Pope Auditorium at Fordham University, 60th St and Columbus Avenue in New York, with prominent producers, artistic directors, directors, playwrights, agents and casting directors to have a dialogue on access and representation of minority actors on NYC stages and how best to overcome obstacles to more inclusive casting. It will be co-presented with Fordham University and will be moderated by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (Chinglish, M. Butterfly).

Participants at RepresentAsian include producers Nelle Nugent (Stick Fly, Ghetto Klown) and Stephen Byrd (2008 revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, upcoming Streetcar Named Desire); Public Theatre artistic director Oskar Eustis; playwright Douglas Carter Beane (Sister Act The Musical, Lysistrata Jones

Breathe Love Repeat: a near-life experience will be presented in February and March at Under St. Marks as a part of the 2012 Frigid New York Festival. In Breathe Love Repeat: a near-life experience, a “Samurai Super Daughter” struggles with her mother’s love at the crossroads between East and West, struggling to affirm life between this world and the next.

Produced by Mustique Projects, the production is written by and will star Broadway’s Suzen Murakoshi (A Chorus Line and The King & I) and will feature direction from Obie-Award Winner Ching Valdes-Aran (who performed in The Wild Party on Broadway).

With warmth and humor, “Breathe Love Repeat, a near-life experience” tells the story of the last days in the life of a mother and daughter. This uplifting and life-affirming show takes audiences from the mountains of Japan to the islands of Hawaii as Murakoshi brings the clarity of life into focus by bringing us closer to the end.

Suzen Murakoshi is a veteran of Broadway, off-Broadway and regional theatres. Her favorite roles include “Juliet” in Romeo and Julietat the Cleveland Playhouse and “Connie” in A Chorus Line on Broadway. Together with Obie award winner, Ching Valdes-Aran, Ms. Murakoshi has performed her own past work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where she was short-listed for Best Actor for her role as “Helen” in Slippery When Wet (SWW).

Have you heard this before? “Love or Business, you have to choose.” The message is direct - you have to decide what you value more, something/one you love or your work/business. Actually, there is a more factual statement – Love is Good Business.

February is the month of love. A great deal of thought and energy will be spent on expressions of love, usually for a romantic partner. The truth in the old axiom, Love makes the World Go Round, applies to all aspects of life, not only to romantic love. When you are doing what you love, you are going to be more successful in it, and you will also be happier and at peace. It’s only natural.

“I don’t think I have ever worked in my life, because work to me means that you are really doing something you don’t like.”