[Minghui] December 10th is the first day of "Falun Dafa Week" in Massachusetts as well as International Human Rights Day. To tell the public more about Falun Dafa and the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and to celebrate "Falun Dafa Week" in Massachusetts, practitioners in the Boston area held a parade and a press conference in the city of Cambridge.
Cambridge is a renowned academic city in America and the city government proclaimed the week of December 10-16 as Falun Dafa Week. At the same time, over a dozen other cities across Massachusetts ranging from Boston in the east and Springfield in the west issued proclamations of Falun Dafa Week or Falun Dafa Day to credit Falun Dafa's contribution to the physical and spiritual well being of the residents. They also paid tribune to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and the rational, peaceful and unbending spirit displayed by Falun Gong practitioners in the face of vicious and brutal persecution. The proclamations encourage citizens to support and practice Falun Dafa. In addition, the Massachusetts House of Representatives also passed a resolution in support of Falun Dafa Week. Spokesman Mr. Thomas M. Finneran endorsed the Falun Dafa Week proclamation in Massachusetts.
The parade in Cambridge opened the first page of Falun Dafa Week in Massachusetts.
On the morning of December 10, journalists from the media such as New England Cable Network (NECN), NBC and Boston Globe arrived at the starting point of the parade - Central Square - to interview the practitioners. NECN covered the whole event and reported it in detail.
Falun Dafa practitioners were dressed in yellow jerseys with embroidered characters of "Falun Dafa" and "Zhen-Shan-Ren." During the parade, some practitioners held up banners reading "Falun Dafa Week," "China: Stop Persecuting Falun Gong," "Freedom of Belief Is a Fundamental Right," and so on. Others passed out Dafa newspaper and flyers and told their own cultivation experience and the vicious persecution in China to the media and watching crowds. The parade went along the main street in Massachusetts and we stopped every now and then to display the Dafa exercises to the media and the pedestrians. Many people stopped to ask for flyers and expressed their sympathy and support of Dafa practitioners in China. They also voiced their indignation with Jiang Zemin's policy of brutal persecution against the practitioners. An American woman said: "I do not practice Falun Gong, but I support you." She pointed at a picture of practitioners in meditation and said: "The Chinese leaders are simply unbelievable, and foolish. How can they persecute the peaceful practitioners who believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance? It's so stupid." Many people driving by put their thumbs up to give their support and encouragement to the practitioners.
At Harvard Square, the practitioners held a press conference, read aloud proclamation letters from various cities, and displayed picture boards about Falun Dafa's worldwide popularity and the persecution facts in China. Representatives of Falun Dafa practitioners expressed their appreciation for the proclamations and support from the cities of Massachusetts, welcomed residents in Massachusetts to learn Falun Gong, called upon all kind-hearted people with a sense of justice and international communities to extend their help to resolve the Falun Gong issue in a peaceful manner, and stop the current persecution that is even worse than the Cultural Revolution.
Practitioners from Boston
December 12, 2000
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