New York: Grand Parade Amid the Rain Raises Awareness of Ongoing Persecution in China

(Minghui.org) Flags and banners filled 8^th Avenue in Brooklyn, New York on October 2, 2022, and the surrounding buildings resounded with the sounds of gongs and drums. Over 1,000 Falun Dafa practitioners held a grand parade in the rain to tell people about the 23-year-long persecution of their peaceful cultivation practice in China. The parade was also held to congratulate the 400 million Chinese people who have quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. Many passersby stopped to watch the parade and learn about the brutal persecution. 

Practitioners held a grand parade along 8^th Avenue in Brooklyn, New York on October 2, 2022. 

The parade traveled down 8^th Avenue and went from 68^th Street to 42^nd Street. Despite the rain, the colorful banners, posters, and music caught peoples’ attention. The Tian Guo Marching Band led the parade, followed by large-scale models of Falun Dafa’s main book Zhuan Falun. There was also a dancing Chinese dragon, a rotating Falun emblem, a float, an exercise demonstration team, flag team, and banners that read: “Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong in China,” and “Quit the Chinese Communist Party.” The energetic waist drum team rounded out the parade with its uplifting drum beats. 

Practitioners in the parade ranged from people in their 70s to toddlers and young parents pushing babies in strollers. The rain did not bother them as they were eager to tell people about the brutality of the persecution in China. The Tian Guo Marching Band’s music was clear and majestic, the beat from the waist drums loud, the banners upright, the dragon dance was lively, and the lotus flowers beautiful and bright. Many people gathered to take photos and videos of the parade. Some just stood quietly under the eaves of buildings and watched.

A volunteer from the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP offered passersby fliers and explained why people need to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. “The CCP decided to persecute good people. Heaven will soon eliminate it and its members. Over 400 million people have already quit the CCP and have thus refused to go down with it. They have chosen a bright future for themselves.” People listened and nodded in agreement. Nearly 100 Chinese people quit the CCP that day. 

“Practitioners Are Truly Saving People” 

Ms. Ge Lifang came in from Flushing to watch the parade. She said, “Practitioners have never stopped telling people about the persecution in China throughout these past 23 years. They set up a table in Flushing every day of every year, rain or shine. They are truly saving people. Over 1,000 practitioners came out in the rain just to help wake up those who still believe the CCP’s propaganda and lies,” Ms. Ge said. 

Choosing to Quit the CCP After Learning about the Persecution 

Ms. Liu watched the parade with her child. She said that when she was in China she believed the CCP’s propaganda and could not understand why so many people, especially those highly educated, continued to practice Falun Dafa despite the CCP’s suppression. “After I came to the U.S., I learned what really happened during the persecution. My conscience bothered me. I went to the Falun Dafa table in Chinatown and quit the CCP Youth League. I wish China the best and I want the persecution to stop,” she said.

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises, have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 23 years, though due to the difficulty in getting information out of China, the actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.