From South Vietnam, a Buddhist monk and antiwar activist named Thich Nhat Hanh published an open letter to King, one that applauded the American preacher’s ecumenical approach to social action. “I am sure that since you have been engaged in one of the hardest struggles for equality and human rights, you are among those who understand fully … the indescribable suffering of the Vietnamese people,” Thich Nhat Hanh wrote. The monk went on to cite the writings of Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, and other favorites of King. “The world’s greatest humanists would not remain silent. You can not remain
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