Monday, December 19, 2016

Will You Let Them Get Away with This? - BITTERSWEET CARNEGIE HALL PERFORMANCE



Women's Rights Without Frontiers | Forced Abortion Is Not A Choice | www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org

Reggie Littlejohn in Washington, D.C. Photo Credit: Lee Love
Dear Friend,
I want to tell you what we're up against in 2017.
At Women's Rights Without Frontiers, we are world leaders in the fight to keep China accountable for its cruel forced population control policies - a battle most governments have given up on.
With your help, in 2016:

WRWF's "Save a Girl" campaign saved this baby girl
- We took the lead in exposing continued forced abortion under China’s new Two-Child Policy, especially of single mothers and third babies.
- And of course, as of this year, hundreds of baby girls and moms have been saved from coercive population control and deadly son preference thanks to our “Save A Girl” campaign!
There's no doubt: we're impacting the global conversation on China. This is a big victory!


But here's the thing: the Chinese government wants to get us off their back, and they know how to do it.
Last October, the Chinese government made the misleading announcement that they were “abandoning” the One Child Policy. This was a convenient way to shut down news headlines exposing their brutal population control, without ending the actual practice. Forced abortion and gendercide continue under the "Two Child Policy."
The sad thing is, this actually worked. Media everywhere started discussing the coercive One Child Policy as a thing of the past!
In 2017, we've got to keep China from getting away with this "change in name only."
Will you join us?


Your gift will help us save women and babies from forced population control, one baby at a time, through our ever-growing Save a Girl campaign.
You'll also help us keep up the global pressure on behalf of countless other families who fall victim to forced abortions and forced sterilization under the Two Child Policy - even as we speak.
Because of your generosity, we have the power to fight these terrible tragedies, and help the oppressed families of China see the day when the dignity of a woman and her child is truly honored and loved at last.
There are only a few days left to make your gift this year. You can make a difference in the lives of countless families who have nowhere else to turn!


The Chinese Communist Party has announced that it has “prevented” 400 million lives through it’s One (now Two)-Child Policy. That’s more than the entire populations of the United States and Canada Combined. Far too many of these lives were “prevented” through forced abortion and sterilization.
Thank you for joining forces with us against the greatest crime against women and girls in the world today!
With gratitude,
Reggie Littlejohn, President
Women’s Rights Without Frontiers



YES, I WANT TO HELP END GENDERCIDE AND FORCED ABORTION IN CHINA!

Your donation enables Women’s Rights Without Frontiers to continue to be a voice for the voiceless women and children of China. This huge effort comes at a cost. We need your support. Please give as generously as you can. Every donation makes a difference!






P.O. Box 54401 | San Jose, CA 95154
www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org
 
 
CONTACT:            Reggie Littlejohn, President, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers
EMAIL:                  reggielittlejohn@gmail.com
CELL:                     310.592.5722
WEBSITE:             www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  BITTERSWEET CARNEGIE HALL PERFORMANCE BY LITTLEJOHN'S DAUGHTER RESCUED FROM CHINA 


Photo 1:  Anni Zhang in front of Carnegie Hall with Reggie Littlejohn and husband Robert



NEW YORK:  On Sunday afternoon, 13-year-old Anni Zhang, rescued from China,  was living a dream come true – she performed piano in Carnegie Hall.  What should have been a completely joyous occasion, however was marred.  Her father, veteran activist Zhang Lin, was not able to attend because the Chinese government refused to issue him a passport.

Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, played a key role in bringing Anni to the United States from China, where she and her father were under house arrest after she had been detained and denied the right to go to school.  Littlejohn and her husband, Robert, have been raising Anni as their own daughter. They flew the family, including Anni’s older sister Ruli, from San Jose, CA to New York to celebrate Anni’s achievement with her.

Littlejohn stated, “My husband and I are so proud of Anni.  She came to the United States without playing an instrument, and after just two years, she won an international competition to perform at Carnegie Hall.  That’s got to be some kind of a record.  I think she’s a genius!  She looked gorgeous in her purple sequined concert gown, and she played brilliantly.  But as my heart was bursting with pride for her, it was also aching for her father, who could not be here to enjoy this important moment with his daughter.”

Littlejohn continued, “I spoke with Zhang Lin.  He told me that he has applied several times for a passport, telling the authorities that he needed one quickly so that he could come to New York and see Anni perform.  Each time, they refused him a passport.  They once told him it is because of his ‘history.’  What could this statement mean, other than that they are punishing him for his ‘history’ of pro-democracy activism?    What kind of an inhumane government is this, that would detain a 10-year-old to punish her father, and then would refuse a passport to the father to punish them both?”

Activist Chen Guangcheng issued the following warning to the Chinese government:  “Controlling people's right to freedom of movement is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes.  To the Chinese Communist Party: If you want to be recognized as legitimate in the international community, you need to respect the basic rights of citizens."

Jing Zhang, president of Women’s Rights in China and colleague of Zhang Lin, also played a major role in bringing Anni to the United States.  She stated:  “The Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of pro-democracy activists is unprecedented.  Recently family members of activist Peng Ming, who was serving his sentence, received horrible news.  Hubei Prison officials claimed that Peng Ming died suddenly of a heart attack. But then Peng Ming’s heart and brain were secretly removed, without permission from his family.  Many dissidents and even petitioners seeking justice are imprisoned.  The CCP has become desperate.  At this time, they will make life more difficult for Zhang Lin.”

Yao Cheng, a close friend of Zhang Lin, who helped Anni escape and paid for it with years of jail time, stated:  “I did not expect the Chinese government to issue Zhang Lin a passport.  The Chinese government is lying.  We cannot expect them to have mercy on him.”

Anni said, “Performing at Carnegie Hall was one of the most wonderful moments of my life.  I only wish my father could have been there to share it with me.”

Anni is known as “China’s youngest prisoner of conscience.”  When she was ten, Anni was kidnapped out of her elementary school, detained overnight, denied the right to go to school and put under house arrest with her father.  Learn more about her story here.