Walk For Peace

With many helping hands along the way

I first noticed them on social media. There were all these posts about a group of orange-clad guys walking along the highway. There was a dog. They kept popping up in my feed, photos of them—turned out they’re Buddhist monks—hiking along the road. And in every photo they were surrounded by police. Police cars everywhere.

It’s funny, I’m so used to thinking that Law Enforcement = ICE thugs. But these policemen were protecting the monks from harm, helping them along the way.

Just fortuitously, I happened to be in Washington DC on the day the monks happened to arrive there, the finale of their 2,300 mile walk. They’d tramped through heat and rain and snow and last weekend, bitter cold and howling winds. So I decided to head over to watch them arrive at the National Cathedral, only a few miles from where I’m staying.

I figured there were would be quite a few people there to greet them. And there were indeed quite a few.

The roads were so jammed that the Uber driver had to drop me off half a mile from the Cathedral. I didn’t have to worry about getting lost, though, because every sidewalk had a stream of people carrying flowers. Soon the streams coalesced and turned into rivers. Even the pets came out to greet the monks.

I joined the crowd, and eventually clambered up on a snow mound (DC is still absolutely buried in frozen snow) to get a good view.

And what I saw was police. DC cops everywhere, keeping the crowds off the roadway. And they were so nice about it. Not only courteous, just plain nice. “Hey, do me a favor and move out of the crosswalk, please, ma’am,” they’d say. Or “Hey, folks, we wanna keep you safe, step back a bit, thanks!”

In the crowd, there was a tall, muscular dude shouting unpleasant things—not profanity, just rude comments. There’s always one right? A DC policewoman who came up to his shoulder engaged him in a low-key conversation.

Amazing. Law enforcement doesn’t have to involve smashing car windows, dragging people over the pavement, terrifying children.

The crowd stood waiting patiently, and it wasn’t long—considering the monks had walked all the way from Texas, they were surprisingly on schedule. First came a convoy of police cars, then a fleet of officers on bicycles.

Then the monks, pacing so briskly that they were by almost before I knew it.

There were some people chanting about Jesus, carrying hate-filled signs about how all the groups they don’t like (Muslims, drunkards, fornicators, homosexuals, etc.) are going to Hell. Sigh. The police surrounded the monks in a protective ring as they walked past the “Christians.” It was a master class in how strength can be used for protection instead of harm. How law enforcement professionals are trained in techniques to keep us safe. Those courteous men and women on bicycles were such a contrast to the horrors in Minneapolis.

I followed the crowd to the Cathedral steps, but it was so packed I couldn’t see the orange-clad figures any more. But we all got a chance to hear the bells ring out over head.

Dear Friends,

Are you furious about the state of the world and wondering what to do about it? I hope you’ll continue to check out The Optimistic Activist.

Every now and then I post some ideas for doing something. How to get out the vote, spread the word, and support progressive candidates. Ideas for simple but effective activism. As easy, as practical, as do-able as I can make them.

Together, I think, we can really make a difference.

“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future.”

--Noam Chomsky

Anitasanchez.com