United States: Introducing Falun Dafa and Exposing the Persecution at Columbia University in Manhattan

On April 7th and 8th, 2005, a China Economic Emergence Symposium was held at Columbia University, a prominent university in upper-west Manhattan, New York. It was a widely promoted forum, and a lot of students and professionals who were interested in China issues came to attend the event.

Anti-torture exhibition held on the campus of Columbia University	Students sign the petition supporting opposing the persecution

In order to help the visitors to the forum as well as students know about the persecution of Falun Gong, practitioners held an anti-torture exhibition on the campus with the help of practitioners who had been doing the anti-torture exhibitions in Manhattan.

The sky was dark and overcast in the morning, but shortly after we set up it became bright and sunny. Our event was held in the main central area of the campus, Low Plaza, so a lot of students got to see our exhibition. A lot of people stopped by to talk to us, asked us questions and then signed our petition letters.

One practitioner talked to an older professor from China who had come for the forum. He said it was hard to get information inside China, but he had seen a lot of displays and got a lot of information about Falun Gong outside China. He talked to a Western practitioner for a long time and was very supportive of Falun Gong. He said, "It is terrible living under the Communist rule in China!"

Many westerners were shocked by the extent of the persecution, and they were even more shocked when they learned that many Chinese people overseas, including their highly educated Chinese classmates, still believed in the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda against Falun Gong. They agreed to tell the facts to more people, especially if they saw Chinese people spreading lies about Falun Gong.

One practitioner saw two students watching, and so he went over and chatted with them. The students asked what they could do to help us, and he told them they could tell the facts to more people, especially Chinese people and that when everyone knew the truth, the persecution could not be sustained any more. They agreed, and then told him that they were photographers from the university student newspaper. They took some photos for the newspaper.

In the afternoon, two Chinese professionals came and complained to security guards that our display was "offencive" and asked for it to be removed. The security guards then checked whether we had a permit for the event, which we did. Our event then went on smoothly, without any interference. Later, one of the security guards came and told us, "So what if they find it offencive? You have every right to be here and do what you are doing!"

By the end of the day, a lot of fliers had been passed out, and the practitioners felt as though the area had been cleared of many bad elements. It was a very successful event.

While setting up, we had to carry a lot of heavy items. By the end of the day, we had to borrow a cart to help carry the heaviest things because we were exhausted. After the exhibition, during discussion, we realised that doing the exhibitions was far more difficult than we imagined, and we gained a new admiration for the practitioners who were on the streets of New York doing them every day.