Anni Zhang, whom we rescued from China at age 10, just graduated from U.C. Berkeley!
For those of you who don’t know about Anni, she was known as “China’s youngest prisoner of conscience.” We rescued her, and her older sister, Ruli, in 2013.
These are the daughters of Zhang Lin – one of the bravest Chinese human rights activists. Zhang Lin was one of the leaders of the Tiananmen Square movement, in Anhui province. He was jailed and tortured repeatedly for his activism.
When the Chinese Communist Party could not silence Zhang Lin, they resorted to kidnapping his young daughter, Anni, out of her 4th grade classroom, and detaining her and her father overnight.
In 2013, when he and Anni were under house arrest, he got word out to me, asking that I help his daughter, Anni, come to the United States, as she could not live a normal life in China. With help from the U.S. government and several very brave activists from China, Anni and Ruli were able to escape China and come to the United States.
Anni was 10 when she arrived in the United States. Ruli was 19. We raised Anni in our home as our own daughter for eight years, until she went off to college. Ruli also lived with us for almost two years. Anni arrived speaking no English. It is an incredible achievement for her to graduate from her first-choice college, U.C. Berkeley.
Something special about Anni is her incredible musical talent. When she arrived at our home, she sounded out tunes on our piano. I suggested to my husband that we get her piano lessons from a Mandarin-speaking teacher, to give her an outlet while she learned English. Little did anyone know that, after only three years of lessons, Anni would win a competition to play in Carnegie Hall!
Here is a beautiful video by EWTN about Anni and me, in which we both play the piano:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXRmFnkCgq4 (5 minutes)
Our goal for Anni was just to give her the opportunity to live a normal life, breathing the air of freedom in the United States. And yet, she has done so much more than that.
Anni, you are amazing. Congratulations on all your achievements! May God continue to bless you in all you do in life!
Here are links to news reports about Anni, for those who would like to learn more:
Daughter of Chinese Activist Arrives in US to Begin New Life
https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/daughter-of-chinese-activist-arrives-in-us-to-begin-new-life-281475
The Infinite Value of Every Life (Eric Metaxas, Breakpoint)
https://breakpoint.org/the-infinite-value-of-every-life/
Anni Zhang, Littlejohn’s Daughter Rescued from China, to Perform at Carnegie Hall
https://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/anni-zhang-littlejohns-daughter-rescued-from-china-to-perform-at-carnegie-hall/
Anni Thanks Reggie and Robert at our 40th Wedding Anniversary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SgBKwP4abo
