(Minghui.org) Approximately 1,000 Falun Dafa practitioners held a parade in Brooklyn, New York on September 14, 2024, to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and to congratulate the more than 430 million Chinese people who have withdrawn from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In addition, the number of signatures on petitions calling to end the persecution by the CCP has reached more than 4.4 million.
From 66th Street to 41st Street, the parade covered 8th Avenue, where the third largest Chinese community in New York City is located. The parade included three sections and 13 groups. The well-organized event, uplifting music, and eye-catching banners attracted many people, many of whom took photos and videos.
The first section of the Mid-Autumn Festival parade, “Falun Dafa is good,” held on September 14, 2024 in Brooklyn, New York
Many people were drawn to the event and said it was festive and filled with positive energy. “I like the dragon dance very much,” one person said. “The message on the banners is great,” another added. “I support Falun Dafa practitioners and hope they can continue with their faith,” said another. Two girls followed the parade and said afterward, “Falun Dafa is really great! We want to join them.”
Led by the Tian Guo Marching Band playing such stirring music as “Falun Dafa Is Good,” the first section of the parade also featured large models of the English and Chinese versions of Zhuan Falun, the main teachings of Falun Dafa. There was also a delightful dragon dance and lotus flower dance.
The second section of the parade: “Stop Persecuting Falun Gong”
Through the messages on banners, the second section of the parade revealed how the CCP has persecuted Falun Dafa practitioners over the past 25 years. The mistreatment includes arrest, detention, imprisonment, torture, forced-labor, psychiatric abuse, and even forced organ harvesting.
The third section congratulated the more than 430 million Chinese people who have quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations, including the Communist Youth League and Young Pioneers. So far, over 4.4 million signatures on “End the CCP” petitions have been collected in the U.S. and other countries.
The third section of the parade congratulated the millions of Chinese who have quit the CCP.
Yi Zhongyuan, President of the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP, said of the movement to quit the CCP, “The CCP has brought terror through deception and brutality. The movement of quitting the CCP is going well, and many people inside China are no longer afraid of the regime. The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party (also known as the Nine Commentaries), a book published in 2004, has played an important role in this process.”
Many people said they enjoyed the event and they agreed with freedom of belief. Some parents watched the parade with their children and explained the words on the banners to their kids.
Recent Immigrants Condemn the CCP
Wang, an older man who recently immigrated from Lianjiang County, Fujian Province, China, watched the parade. After seeing a banner with the words “Commentary Two: On the Beginnings of the Chinese Communist Party,” he talked with a Falun Gong practitioner and asked how the CCP started. He was surprised to hear about the bloody history of the CCP.
Noticing another banner mentioning an ancient rock in Guizhou Province which has the Chinese characters: “The Chinese Communist Party will end,” he was again surprised. “Freedom of belief is very good in the U.S.,” he said. “If someone put up this banner in China, they would be immediately arrested and detained by the police.”
Wang also talked about the poverty of Chinese farmers. They usually only have just enough food to eat and have no money to pay for their children’s education. “An old man like me only receives 282 yuan (about US $40) a month, not even enough for food,” he added. On the other hand, the CCP officials have tried all means to grab money and one recent news story reported that the top 13 CCP officials embezzled $8 trillion. He explained that’s why he’s interested in reading the Nine Commentaries.
Zhang, a young man also from Fujian Province, formerly had a shop in China. But it did not go well due to the recession so he came to the U.S. in 2022. He was especially interested in two banners: “Twenty-five years of opposing the CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa” and the one that mentioned the naturally-occurring characters found on the rock in Guizhou. He was also impressed that so many people practice Falun Dafa.
Zhang also said that people no longer trust the CCP. “The CCP is no good; otherwise, why have so many people, including me, fled China and come to the U.S.?”
Withdrawing from the CCP Organizations
Yi, of the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP, noted that many Chinese people enjoyed the parade. After talking with practitioners, 235 people decided to renounce their memberships in the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Among them, eight were CCP members, 20 had joined the Communist Youth League, and 207 withdrew from the Young Pioneers.
In the past, the CCP deceived the Chinese people with brutality and brainwashing. Many people mistakenly believed that the CCP and China are the same. They now see through the vicious nature of the CCP, and have learned how the regime systematically destroyed Chinese culture and harmed the Chinese people. That’s why they are able to set aside their fear and say “no” to the regime.
New Practitioner’s Amazing Experience
Lucy, a Chinese woman in her 70s, started practicing Falun Dafa in 2020. “I suffered from frozen shoulder and could not even use chopsticks or dress myself,” she recalled. “When I watched NTD Television, I saw how a cancer patient regained their health through practicing Falun Dafa, so I decided to take up the practice.”
Two weeks after she began practicing Falun Dafa, Lucy’s health improved dramatically; one month later, all her ailments were gone. Now she is healthy, like a young woman, and she is very grateful. This is why she participates in the Mid-Autumn Festival every year, hoping more people can learn about Falun Dafa and also benefit from the practice.
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