Liberty Walks

In July 2025, Esther set out from Eugene, Oregon on foot, bound for Washington, D.C. — a nearly 3,000-mile pilgrimage she founded and led as a grassroots, nonpartisan nonprofit. Liberty Walks was conceived as an act of faith in the American experiment: a way to slow communication down, step off the screen and onto the land, and meet neighbors of every persuasion face to face. Guided by four plain values — respect, kindness, curiosity, and courage — the walk threaded through red states, blue states, and everywhere between, asking a simple question along the way: who are we, really?

The route wound through 146 communities, each night's shelter offered by a faith group, a civic organization, or a stranger who became a friend. What began as one woman's improbable idea grew into a shared journey carried by dozens of volunteers and supporters. The walking is finished now, but the work that grew out of it — on grief, reconciliation, and the truth that we need one another — continues. Learn more at libertywalks.org.