Photos by V. Walker, 2026
By: Victoria Walker, Policy Analyst
Looking around the world today it takes little effort to find distress and despair. Violence is escalating, oppression is tightening its grip on entire communities, and people are straining to push back against a current of hopelessness. What feels increasingly rare is peace.
Yet this month, I was reminded that peace begins with a single step. That is not a cliché meant to soothe discomfort; it is something I witnessed firsthand. On an unseasonably warm winter morning in Washington, D.C., I participated in the Walk for Peace and watched the Venerable Monks complete some of their final miles. With quiet discipline and unwavering focus, they walked to raise awareness of inner peace and mindfulness. Through steady, intentional movement, their presence was a living reminder that peace is not passive, it is practiced. And sometimes, it is carried forward one deliberate step at a time.
Rooted in Purpose
The monuments of Washington D.C. have long stood in quiet, unyielding strength as movements have risen and history has unfolded in the streets beneath them. Generations have marched past these marble columns carrying demands for justice, equality, and freedom. This city does not simply host protest, it carries a pulse. It is a gathering ground for resistance and communal change. That steady pulse made it a fitting end destination for the Venerable Monks’ 2,300-mile Walk for Peace. A journey that began in Fort Worth, Texas and stretched across states and communities. After thousands of miles walked in quiet discipline, their final steps converged in a city accustomed to calls for transformation, but one that has grappled with significant turmoil and change over the past year.
On that sunny February 11th morning, the District vibrated with a sense of calm. Something in the air felt intentional. At the church where the Monks would begin their walk to the Lincoln Memorial, families gathered with strollers, faith leaders linked with activists, students stood with retirees. There were handmade signs, clothing printed with messages of unity, and conversations between strangers that felt anything but random. Next to me stood a mother with her middle-school-aged daughter who she pulled from school to come participate in this moment. It immediately took me back to the times my own mother excused me from school to go with her and witness historical moments in time.
The street beside the church was already lined with people long before the walk began. I remember thinking what an incredible turnout it was, how powerful it felt to see so many people choose to show up for peace on a winter morning. What I didn’t yet realize was that this was only the beginning. As we stepped forward and walked with the Monks toward the National Mall, the crowd swelled. Single streets turned into a river of shared purpose.
Peace in Motion
There is something powerful about walking side by side with that many people who believe that change begins in the heart and radiates outward into communities. Each step felt symbolic. Not performative, just steady movement forward. No one person claimed to have all the answers. No one pretended the country’s problems nor the world’s problems could be solved in a single afternoon. Yet there was agreement on one essential truth: doing nothing is not an option. Peace requires participation.
Walking together, I was struck by how ordinary the act was. We were simply putting one foot in front of the other. But collectively, it became extraordinary. It became a visible refusal to surrender to despair.
The Monks’ decision to go on this journey, walking through cities and rural towns alike, created space for dialogue. It encouraged community partnerships and invited individuals to reflect on their own role in cultivating peace.
I arrived at the walk feeling burdened by the nightmares of our world. I left reminded that hope is not naïve. It is a discipline. Participating in the Walk for Peace did not solve the crises in our country and global community, but it recalibrated my perspective and reminded me that, if you are willing to take a step, you will find you are not walking alone.
Why It Matters Now
In and outside of this work I’ve spent time with individuals and families who fled violence, persecution, and instability in search of safety and dignity. For them, peace is not an abstract ideal, it is the difference between fear and freedom, between surviving and truly living. I thought about the courage it takes to leave your homeland, to cross borders and rebuild with so little, to quite literally walk for peace. I was reminded that our advocacy must be rooted in the same steady commitment. Peace is not only something we call for; it is something we are responsible for cultivating—in our policies, in our communities, in ourselves. In how we welcome those seeking refuge.
In times like we are witnessing today; it is tempting to withdraw. To be consumed by despair and say, “What can one person really do?”
One person can take a step. One person can walk. One person can show up and invite others to do the same. Movements are made of individuals who decide to act. Peace does not begin in government buildings or global summits. It begins in human hearts willing to move.
