Robert Hill, a senior broadcast journalism major at Howard University, stood in Washington, D.C., around noon as Buddhist monks completed a cross-country journey that spanned roughly 2,300 miles over 108 days. Beginning in Fort Worth, Texas, in October 2025, the monks walked day after day through rain, cold, and early winter storms, often covering more than 20 miles at a time before arriving in the nation’s capital on Tuesday with a message centered on peace, endurance, and spiritual discipline.
What began for Hill as a reporting assignment quickly became something more complicated. Standing in a largely white crowd filled with reverence, flowers, and visible police protection surrounding the monks, he found himself confronting a different set of questions, not just about the moment, but about history, race, and public safety in America.
In this personal audio essay, Hill reflects on what it means to witness peace as a young Black Gen Z college student reporting on a historic event in the nation’s capital during a politically tense era.
