(Clearwisdom.net) On July 4, 2004, Falun Gong practitioners in Northern California participated in the Independence Day Parade in Alameda by invitation of the Mayor's Office and were warmly received.

Alameda is a peninsula town in the Bay Area with one hundred and fifty years of history. The Independence Day Parade is the largest traditional celebration in the city. About one hundred thousand people, including residents from surrounding towns, went to see the parade.

Falun Gong practitioners held banners saying "Falun Dafa Is Great," "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and "Meet Hatred with Compassion." They demonstrated five sets of Falun Gong exercise and performed a beautiful fan dance. Parade viewers rewarded them with waves of applause. They called out, "Falun Gong! Falun Gong!" They competed with each other to get Falun Gong truth clarification materials and asked practitioners for more information about Falun Gong

City Mayor Beverly Johnson was very happy that Falun Gong participated in the parade. She said she heard about Falun Gong and the persecution in China a few years ago. She had received a letter from the Chinese consulate, asking her to withdraw the city's recognition to Falun Gong, but she didn't do that. She said it was hard to believe such things had happened.

When Falun Gong procession passed the stage in last year's parade, Mayor Johnson asked practitioners to leave their "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" banner on the stage and had a group picture taken with practitioners.

As early as one month before this year's parade, the office received inquiries asking if Falun Gong would be in the parade. Local citizens were impressed with Falun Gong last year, and they looked forward to seeing Falun Gong practitioners again this year.