One BYU-Idaho student is using his passion for hiking and walking to spread awareness for millions of people worldwide.
Eighteen-year-old Thomas King Jackson, a junior at BYU-Idaho, started his 1,000-mile walk for Tibet in mid-May and is set to wrap it up this week.
Since the 1950s, the region of Tibet has been part of western China. Jackson says its people have been heavily persecuted and haven’t had independence for 60-75 years. It is illegal for Tibetans to practice their culture, speak their own language and own a Tibetan flag.
Jackson’s goal for his 1,000-mile journey is to raise awareness for Tibet and to free its people from persecution.
“At the beginning of the semester, I kind of felt like I wasn’t doing anything,” Jackson said. “I was going to classes, I was going to work, but that was my whole day. I had been talking to people and no one really, in my generation especially, knew about Tibet. If they had heard about it at all, they usually didn’t know about the terrible situation over there.”
The exact reason for China’s oppression of Tibet is unknown, but Jackson thinks it has to do with China wanting more power and control over Tibet’s natural resources.
Jackson originally planned to walk 300 miles, but after thinking it over, decided 300 wouldn’t grab as much attention, so he changed that number to 1,000.
Jackson spends his free time walking 15-20 miles a day around parts of southeast Idaho and western Wyoming. He’ll sometimes walk for hours into the night or wake up early in the morning to make time for his walks, which he also does between classes and work shifts.
Jackson posts highlights of his miles on social media, which get tens of thousands of views. His Instagram account currently has just shy of 5,000 followers with one of his videos surpassing 100,000 views. Jackson sends screenshots of comments from Tibetans to his dad so his father can translate them for Jackson to be able to respond.
“It’s almost all Tibetans, which is interesting,” Jackson said. “The point was to raise awareness with non-Tibetans who don’t know what’s going on, but instead, my account has sort of become this inspiration for a lot of them because they’re excited to see someone who’s not Tibetan who knows about it. I get hundreds of comments every day of people being so excited because the world doesn’t really know about Tibet, so that’s what it’s become. It’s been pretty sweet to see that.”
Although Jackson lived in both Dharamshala, India and Leh, a city in the Himalayas, his passion for Tibetan freedom came from his father. Jackson’s dad is a history professor who specializes in southern Asia and has been to Tibet three times. He has also helped rebuild monasteries and has raised funds for education in Tibet.
Jackson wants to spread the message of Tibet to as many people as possible.
“At this point, all we can do is just keep that fire burning,” Jackson said. “If the topic loses attention around the world, the cause will be lost. The whole point of this was to just keep that spark alive. I’m a walker. I’m a hiker. Those are things I know I can do and I love to do already, so I was like, how can I turn that into a way I can advocate for something I’m passionate about?’, which is Tibet. My message has always been ‘don’t forget Tibet. Keep the fire burning,’ and I feel like I’ve done the best I can at that so far.”
Jackson received an offer from a Tibetan to walk from here to India to meet the Dalai Lama himself, which Jackson says he’d love to do in the future.
Jackson plans to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at the end of this year after submitting his papers this past weekend.
To keep up with Jackson’s journey, follow him on Instagram and YouTube at Thomas King Company.