On April 26, 2005, the third anniversary of Jianli’s imprisonment,
his neighbors gathered for a concert.
A Concert for Freedom
-Easily Sung, in Brookline.
Linda Mancini
We all are Brookline neighbors and coworkers and, like most Americans,
it can easily be said of us that we love freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
We treasure these human rights that we consider so basic.
Easily said, in Brookline.
One of us, our Brookline neighbor Dr. Yang Jianli, has devoted his life to democracy and freedom.
He was there in Tiananmen Square, the incident that marks the century past with a horrific human rights violation.
Jianli survived and went on to become an internationally respected freedom activist who worked for democracy in China.
He worked for human rights for all of the different people under Chinese government rule.
Easily done, in Brookline.
We consider freedom of speech and religion to be basic human rights in our community, Brookline, and we stretch to make our town an especially tolerant environment.
Isn't it an honor to have Jianli as our neighbor?
Aren't we fortunate to have someone, one of us, who thought of millions of others rather than himself?
Such profound motivation and brilliant actions are rare and precious as an example
and also as a change agent, improving the world.
I am privileged to say he is my friend. He is a friend to the entire world.
Jianli truly graced our neighborhood by living and working for freedom here.
Too easily done for Jianli, in Brookline.
He wanted to do his work in China. He heart was with those suffering in China.
He returned to them to work with only benefit for others on his mind and in his heart.
On April 26th he was captured and today is the third anniversary of his unjust imprisonment in China.
You, my dear neighbors, along with and an endless array of prominent groups have worked for his release.
We stand beside Jianli's beautiful family and the US government and Amnesty and so many more. His brave and excellent wife has led the struggle for his freedom.
Now his health is seriously impaired, shocking that such a healthy man appears to have had a stroke.
He deserves a medical release and a return to his family and community, to us.
I reach out to you, my neighbors, with due respect to what I saw Jianli doing.
At our first meeting years ago at a Tibetan gathering, it was obvious that Jianli was all about outreach.
Later on at his International Conference for Democracy in the 21st Century in China,
I saw him bring together an amazing array of young leaders of every ethnic group.
He had a grand, purposeful, splendid outreach.
This Tibetan Buddhist Center in Brookline that I direct was created for the preservation of Tibetan culture.
It is here because Tibetans don't have freedom of religion and they choose exile in order to practice their religion.
That government which keeps Jianli unjustly imprisoned is that same government
which shot and killed the family of our Lama (teacher) and caused him to run for his life across the Himalayas.
We love freedom and we have the joy of hearing Lola and friends express this with music.
Easily sung in Brookline.
To my community
With love,
from Linda Mancini,
Director of the LamRim Buddhist Center.
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Source: "yangjianli.com".
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