(Clearwisdom.net) As night fell in the chill of early spring in Chicago, as the clamor of busy streets quieted down, candles were lit up on the pavement across the street from the Chinese Consulate. It was April 25, 2011, an uncommon day for Falun Gong practitioners. As previous years, they held a candlelight vigil to commemorate the April 25 Appeal, and to call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Twelve years ago on this day, ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners appealed at the National Appeals Office in Beijing for the release of detained Falun Gong practitioners in Tianjin and an unrestricted cultivation practice environment. Their peacefulness and rationality won high praise internationally. However, Jiang Zemin's regime launched a genocidal persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. The peaceful April 25 Appeal was slandered as “besieging Zhongnanhai” and used as the pretext for the persecution. However, Falun Gong practitioners have never participated in any such activity. The April 25 Appeal marked the beginning of Falun Gong's journey to end the persecution.

Ms. Cui, a former professor at Qinghua University, personally experienced the April 25 Appeal. She used to have numerous diseases, which were cured after two months of practicing Falun Gong. She said, “When we heard that dozens of fellow practitioners were detained in Tianjin, my son, my daughter-in-law, and I decided to go to the National Appeals Office. Our thought was very simple, 'Good people who cultivate compassion shouldn't be detained. A beneficial cultivation practice of great virtue shouldn't be damaged.'”

Any rational government would value intellectuals as assets. But the CCP has illegally imprisoned more than 60 professors, staff members, and students of Qinghua University just because they practice Falun Gong. Qinghua University graduate Yuan Jiang was tortured to death at age 29. Liu Zhimei, a student in chemical engineering, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and given injections of unknown drugs, which made her distraught.

Spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association Yang Sen is a graduate of the Radio Electronics Department of Qinghua University. He said, “April 25, 1999, happened to be the anniversary of Qinghua University. Former Prime Minister and Qinghua University Alumnus Zhu Rongji resolved the issue in Tianjin well on that day. However, the former head of the CCP, Jiang Zemin, outrageously launched an illegal persecution out of jealousy. This persecution has been going on for 12 years. Thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death. Some were brutally killed for their organs. We are here today to restate, in front of the Chinese Consulate, “Stop the persecution! Bring the murderers to justice!”

The peaceful candlelight vigil attracted passersby. They got brochures from Falun Gong practitioners and expressed their concern, sympathy and admiration.

Manda is a student at Loyola University Chicago. She told practitioners, “I have never seen such a peaceful and beautiful protest! They get together, without any direction, but it looked coordinated. It gives you a feeling of positiveness, peace, and harmony. Everyone should have freedom of belief. It is so unfair and terrible for any persecution to happen to such a peaceful group!”

Architect Adrian and his girlfriend Maribel had seen Falun Gong activities before, but they were especially touched by the vigil in chilly wind and drizzle. “Falun Gong is always so peaceful and beautiful! I'm grateful for their persistence. What they do is a beautiful education.”

As it says in a song, “Tiny lights of candles, tiny lights of hope send the beauty of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance to all directions.” In the past 12 years of protesting the persecution, the spirit of never yielding to the evil has spread. The peacefulness and rationality has continued. Faith in the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance has never wavered. It is gratifying that the light of truth guides more and more people in the dark. It is a beacon of hope in the world.