United States: Practitioners Invited to Give Speeches at Commemoration Activity Held on Martin Luther King Day in Atlanta, Georgia

January 16th, 2006 was the 77th birthday anniversary of U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King. A commemoration ceremony was held in Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Dr. King's hometown, to continue the slain leader's lifelong pursuit of civil rights and nonviolence.

Chinese student Helen Li gives a speech during the commemoration	Mr. Erping Zhang was invited to represent Falun Gong and gave a speech

Falun Gong practitioner Becky attended the ceremony for the third year. She said that practitioners in Atlanta have been explaining the facts about Falun Gong to the King Center. Ms. King and staff in the centre have expressed their sympathy and support to practitioners being persecuted in China. The Center invited a Falun Gong spokesperson again this year to give a speech.

Mr. Erping Zhang represented the Falun Gong group and said in his speech that practitioners follow Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, and protested the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s brutal persecution with peaceful means.

Mr. Zhang said in an interview, "We know that more than seven million people have quit the CCP and its organisations. Other people in China are actively joining the withdrawal. In this way, CCP will fall apart soon."

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said later that a nonviolent movement could change society, bring peace and benefit the people. She said that she believed in Mr. Zhang's speech.

Chinese student Helen Li was selected to participate in the ceremony and said, "I am a Falun Gong practitioner. Dr. King's pursuit of nonviolence and freedom encouraged me to continue his legacy to help the world become a better place. I hope that the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China will stop as soon as possible."

More than two hundred people participated in the commemoration ceremony, including Dr. King's family members, officials from federal, state and city government, those from the religious circle, and local students. Isaac Newton Farris, Jr., president and CEO of The King Center, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, and Congressman McKinney gave speeches. They called on people to continue Dr. King's legacy and establish a more peaceful society with more democracy, freedom, and equality.