(Clearwisdom.net) Chicago, the third largest city in the United States, welcomed about a thousand Falun Gong practitioners from around the world. On June 23-24, 2006, Falun Gong practitioners held a series of large-scale activities, including a theme parade entitled "Falun Dafa is Good" held in North Chinatown on June 24^th.

The Divine Land Marching Band composed of more than 200 Falun Gong practitioners made its first appearance in Chicago’s Chinatown. The marching band that has recently appeared in large-scale parades in Manhattan and Washington DC led the Falun Gong parade procession. They played several powerful pieces during the march, drawing people’s attention and applause.

The theme parade carried other messages for the audience: "Falun Dafa is Good," "The World Needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," "Bring Jiang, Luo, Liu and Zhou to Justice, Stop Persecuting Falun Gong," "Open Investigation into Crimes of Harvesting Organs from Living Falun Gong Practitioners in Forced Labor Camps." The last section in the procession, "Global Support of Eleven Million Chinese People Quitting the CCP and Its Affiliated Organizations," was particularly relevant for the onlookers in Chinatown.

While the parade passed through, people walked out from shops, restaurants, banks and post offices. What they saw was Falun Gong practitioners’ unwavering noble spirits and demeanor displayed after having gone through the seven-year brutal persecution.