Movement as solidarity: Walking for a cause across the U.S. and Britain

Two events demonstrate walking as a quiet, embodied practice of peace and solidarity in public space

Originally published on Global Voices

A group of 19 Theravada Buddhist monks and rescue dog Aloka departed Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center from Fort Worth, Texas, on a fresh autumn morning during the later part of October 2025, launching a journey that the organizers say will last four months of walking and cover around 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles). 

The planned route, a passage from Texas through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas, is intended to end by mid-February on the West Lawn of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., where the group, led by Bhikkhu Pannakara, plans to demand the federal recognition of Vesak, the Buddhist holiday commemorating the birth and enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama.

The organizers — the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center — presented the Walk for Peace as a pilgrimage inspired by Buddhist walking meditation and dhutanga practice, a monastic discipline generally aimed at developing simplicity, resilience, and mindfulness while travelling. The monks, rather than leading a demonstration with chants or placards, move slowly, often without shoes, touching the community through their silent, prayerful, and compassionate presence and through their teachings on compassion and inner calm.

They make stops in the towns and cities along their route, using public parks, churchyards, and open spaces for rest, and, in some cases, receive recognition from locals and media coverage.

The walk has caught the eye of many, with people following online. The group is highly visible on social media with a live map created by Dhammacetiya, a project website for a Buddhist initiative called “The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas.” There are also frequent photo and video updates showing the monastics continuing their journey eastwards, local governments welcoming them, and the community writing about their path. Social media supporters have noted the broad appeal of the pilgrimage, with the monks’ Facebook page showing more than 60,000 followers at the time of writing.

However, they have also encountered numerous difficulties, among them an incident in November 2025 when a support vehicle for the group was struck by a truck on United States Highway 90 near Dayton, Texas. Two monks sustained injuries, and one of them, Bhante Dam Phommasan, had to have a leg amputated. Meanwhile, the world was closely following their activities, and international aid flooded in as the group demonstrated their resolve to continue the walk despite this setback.

Walking for peace has its roots in the ancient Buddhist tradition of pilgrimage, in which movement through public space has both spiritual and ethical meanings. Walking meditation, or cankama in Pali, was a technique of the Buddha and his first followers, emphasizing awareness of the action of walking. Dhutanga, one of the ascetic practices of Theravada Buddhism, comprises, among other practices, voluntary walking far and wide to develop detachment and love for all beings. 

In the 20th century, figures like Thich Nhat Hanh and Maha Ghosananda, who were monks and spiritual leaders, gave back to their communities by walking for peace, not only within the community of believers but also as a form of engaged spirituality amid war and conflict.

During the past winter, an event similar to the monks’ walk in the US was happening across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom. On January 3, two young men originally from South Sudan, Giel Malual and  his childhood friend John Kuei, set off on the “long walk of freedom for Sudan,” with the support of media platform Asylum Speakers.

The human rights activists’ fundraising and awareness campaign consisted of a roughly 1,126-kilometer (700-mile) walk from the south of England to the far north of Scotland. The organizers said the walk was intended to raise the money needed to build a primary school for Sudanese children displaced by the ongoing conflict in Sudan who are living in refugee camps in neighboring Chad. The response has been so successful that they have so far raised funds for two more schools.

Giel Malual spoke movingly about his motivation to embark on the journey: “The long walk of freedom for Sudan is deeply personal to me which is why choosing this time of year is important, first to put myself in the shoes of Sudanese children and feel a fraction of their day-to-day struggle due to the war and hundreds of miles they had to walk to find safety. It is a walk of souls’ connection.”

Malual and Kuei's walk ended on January 23 after 33 days, raising over GBP 100,000 (approx USD 138,000).

The walk in Britain was a local initiative that garnered support from community leaders. Among them was the former Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne, who greeted the walkers and highlighted the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where civil war has forced millions of people to flee and has created a great need for basic services, including education. The walkers and their supporters insist that the walk was not a political demonstration but a sign of solidarity aimed at making the crisis visible. According to them, the Sudan crisis receives little coverage in the international media.

The Long Walk of Freedom for Sudan is part of a series of peace and solidarity events happening in the United Kingdom. They include silent public walks for peace, which are a tradition of faith communities. In June 2024, faith groups such as Buddhists, Jews, Quakers, Christians, Hindus, Muslims and others united for a silent walk through the heart of London, from Parliament Square to Trafalgar Square, to express their desire for peace in Palestine, and to remember those who have died in wars worldwide. Those attending brought white flowers, and there were no chants or slogans; it was more of an introspective, heartfelt moment rather than a political protest.

The US Buddhist pilgrimage and the British Sudan solidarity walk are part of a broader trend of people reviving long-distance journeys as a physical way to demonstrate their commitment to peace and humanitarian issues. Experts and practitioners note that peace pilgrimages and long walks have been part of modern history at different times, starting with the United States peace pilgrim movements of the mid-20th century and now including interfaith and human rights projects. In every case, the simple human act of walking, which is persistent, visible, and slow, serves as a means for participants to draw the public’s attention, encouraging them to think while adhering to the practice of nonviolence in daily life.

As winter gets colder, the monks keep moving forward and are expected to arrive in Washington, D.C., in mid-February after traveling a few thousand miles with the main message of sharing unity and inner peace. In the UK, the long march to the north for Sudanese solidarity was successful in gradually expanding awareness of the children displaced by the war, as the marchers raised funds to give their practical help.

Each walk is an example of how the very act of movement, the basic action of stepping one foot after another, can be a deeply symbolic and practical way to express peace, compassion, and our collective humanity.