Thich Nhat Hanh has often spoken of his close friendship with Dr Martin Luther King Jr., and how since King’s death, he has dedicated his life to realise their shared dream of building a “Beloved Community”.
“I remember,” said Thich Nhat Hanh, “the last time I met Dr King, we spoke about community-building. Unfortunately King was killed not long after that, and I vowed to myself, that even in exile, I would redouble my efforts, and put all my energy into the practice of building the Beloved Community we had discussed together.”
We hope you enjoy this article by Arica L. Coleman on the relationship between Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Martin Luther King Jr..
Exactly One Year Before His Death Martin Luther King Denounced the War in Vietnam
“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, and who share with all their heart, the indescribable suffering of the Vietnamese people. The world’s greatest humanists would not remain silent. You yourself cannot remain silent.”—Letter from Thich Nhat Hanh to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1965.
On April 4, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood before a crowd of 3,000 anticipating listeners gathered at the Riverside Church in the City of New York. King was no stranger to Riverside Church, known for its national and global activism since opening its doors in 1930. For almost a decade, the civil rights leader’s visits to the Neo-Gothic edifice was an annual event; but this evening was different as King’s message was a departure from domestic issues about race and economic inequality. Instead he addressed the most pressing foreign policy issue of the day: the war in Vietnam.
Read the rest of the article on George Washington University’s History News Network.
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