United States: 5000-Person Parade Held on Broadway in New York to Clarify the Truth

On April 8th, 2007, 5000 Falun Gong practitioners and people from Manhattan, New York, held a parade on Broadway to clarify the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong. The parade had three sections, which had the themes, "The Beauty of Falun Dafa," "Exposing the Persecution" and "Supporting Withdrawals From the CCP."

There were many people on Broadway, and they were attracted to the grand parade. Many people took photos and some Chinese people also came to watch the parade. People were shocked by the truth exposed by the parade.

The float

The Divine Land Marching Band

Many people take photos of the parade

The CCP is about to fall

Heaven will eliminate the CCP soon

Heaven will eliminate the CCP soon

The parade started from 39th Street and ended at Union Square on 14th Street, and lasted for two hours. After the parade, a rally to support 20 million withdrawals from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was held at Union Square.

The First Section: The Beauty of Falun Dafa

The first section was led by a beautiful float, on which Western practitioners demonstrated the exercises, and young practitioners demonstrated the sitting meditation. Heavenly ladies spread flowers from the float.

After the float, was the Divine Land Marching Band, consisting of 300 members. They performed songs including, "Falun Dafa is good," "Fa Drum and Fa Trumpet," and "The Fa Rectifies Heaven and Earth."

The group of heavenly ladies danced after the band. Two hundred practitioners demonstrated the exercises after two banners which read: "Falun Gong Teaches Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and "Falun Gong has Five Sets of Exercises."

More than 1000 practitioners from different countries marched after a big banner, which read "Falun Gong Spreads in 75 Countries in the World." They held boards indicating where they were from.

The waist drum group was the last group in the first section.

The Second Section: Exposing the Evil Persecution

More than 3000 Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death since July 20th, 1999. Recently, it was revealed that the CCP even harvests organs from living Falun Gong practitioners.

After the first section, more than 1000 practitioners held all kinds of banners and boards exposing the brutal persecution. Female practitioners in white held photos of those who were persecuted to death, in memory of them.

The Third Section: Supporting 20 Million Withdrawals from the CCP

In November 2004, the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published by The Epoch Times, which comprehensively exposed and analysed the evil nature of the CCP. Since then, many people have quit the party. The number of the withdrawals has now reached 20 million.

Falun Gong practitioners and some democrat movement activists marched in this section. The banners they held read "The Root of the CCP has been Pulled Out," "Supporting 20 Million Withdrawals from the CCP," "The CCP is Crashing Down," "Heaven Will Eliminate the CCP Soon," and "Quit the Party for Your Own Safety."

The lion and dragon dance followed this section, celebrating the withdrawals from the CCP and freedom.

People's Reaction

Many people were on Broadway and they were attracted to the parade. Many took photos of the parade. Some Chinese people came to watch the parade too.

Two young men from China learned about the parade and came to watch it. One of them told the reporter that his family members practise Falun Gong and he wants to learn too. They quit the party at the rally using their real names.

Mr. Lin is from New York. He took a lot of photos of the parade. When he first came to America in 2001, he saw the Falun Gong practitioners' parade in front of the UN building, and he was very touched. Mr. Lin said, "Although I am poor, I spent more than 1000 dollars on a good camera. In the last six years, I took a lot of photos of each parade and rally held by Falun Gong practitioners. I witnessed the growth of Falun Gong and the change in people's hearts."

Mr. Lin said, "It is very hard for this group to spread the truth in such a society. They demonstrate their spirit. I admire Falun Gong practitioners. From them, I see the dignity of human beings and the principles of being a human. They are the essence of this society."

Mr. Lin condemned the persecution. He said, "Falun Gong practitioners do the exercises for good health. But the CCP persecutes it, just because the leaders of the CCP have stupid thoughts. The CCP's brutality scares every Chinese. But in America I realised that the CCP's power is actually very weak."

Mr. Lin said, "I want to bring those precious materials back to China, sharing with every Chinese fellow. I know that my power is limited, but if everybody does so, the new China will come soon."

Mr. Zhang is also from New York. He told the reporter that he came to Manhattan to watch this parade. He knew about the persecution of Falun Gong from media reports. He said that stopping the persecution is not political, but an issue of conscience and morality. Many people know that the CCP is bad, but they do bad deeds for their own benefit. People should have a conscience, like Mr. Gao Zhisheng. More lawyers should stand up and speak for Falun Gong.

Another Mr. Zhang, from Brooklyn, came to Manhattan to watch the parade. He said "The parade has a very big influence. The number of 20 million shocked me. The demise of the CCP is just a matter of time."

A retired teacher, who came to New York from China 20 years ago, said that he has never been a member of the CCP, but he has friends who are members and have even worked with Jiang Zemin, former leader of the Communist regime and instigator of the persecution against Falun Gong, and do not like him. He thinks that Falun Gong is good, and the persecution is wrong. He said that the persecution should be stopped. He has read the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and agrees with it. He said that when he came to America in 1986, he found that he had been brainwashed by the CCP. He also wants to learn more about Falun Gong.

Mr. Li is from Fuzhou. He knows that the CCP is bad. He said that he has watched every parade Falun Gong parade. He is mad that many people from Fuzhou have political asylum, but still work for the CCP.

Ms. Kristy Evins is from England. She had never heard about Falun Gong before, but she liked the parade and took a lot of photos.

Marco Dessart is from Holland. He likes Chinese martial arts. He had never heard about the persecution. He said that it is wrong and unfair to persecute such a good group.

Naurico Oliver is from Argentina. He wanted to learn more about Falun Gong. He said that the CCP is a tyrant because it persecutes Falun Gong.

A lady from Canada said, "I think the parade is very good. It demonstrates the beauty of Falun Gong and will bring peace to the world."

Yuda from Japan said that he understands why the Chinese people quit the CCP, because the CCP has been deceiving people. He said that there is unhappiness between China and Japan. One of the reasons he said was that the CCP lies.

A mother and a daughter from Russia agreed with the banner, which read "No Communist Party."

Mark from Holland likes the Chinese culture. He doesn't understand the persecution. He was shocked when he learned about the organ harvesting.

A gentleman from Israel said that he saw practitioners doing exercises in Israel, and he knew about Falun Gong. He said that he never saw so many practitioners getting together. He hopes that the CCP would stop the persecution right now, especially the organ harvesting.

Peter Reilly is a teacher from London. He took photos of the banners which exposed the organ harvesting. He said that he would show the photos to his students. He read the reports of organ harvesting from media in England. He knows that the CCP lies about it. He asked for many truth-clarifying materials and said that he would take them to his students.

Moralues has been a policeman in New York for 21 years. He said that he has seen many Falun Gong parade over the years. He read about the persecution in newspapers. He doesn't understand it, because he sees that Falun Gong is very peaceful.

Mathew is from France. He and his family were amazed by the parade. He's never seen Falun Gong before. He saw that there were some French practitioners in the parade, and wanted to learn the truth from them.

Mr. and Ms. Cirdiner are from London. They often saw practitioners protesting in front of the Chinese Embassy in London. They praised practitioners for their spirit.

Steve is from Canada. He said that he knows very well about the persecution, and he knows that the Canadian government is very supportive of Falun Gong practitioners. He feels that the Canadian government should not do business with the CCP.

A family from New York was excited by the parade. The mother said that she saw the anti-torture exhibition in Manhattan two years ago, and from it learned about the persecution. She said that Falun Gong is good, and thanked practitioners for letting her know the truth.

After the parade, a rally to support 20 million withdrawals from the CCP was held at Union Square.