“Bigger Than Montgomery” 151    them. If I had to die tomorrow morning I would die happy, because I’ve been to the mountain top and I’ve seen the promised land and it’s going to be here in Montgomery.” Days after being overwhelmed by emotion, King emerged with his usual message of hope and faith. He optimisti- cally spoke of a day when his city would experience a Promised Land, but many of Montgomery’s black citizens were destined to wander in the 4 wilderness for many more years. Clear direction for the Montgomery movement proved elusive. In early February, King appeared as a guest on a national NBC Sunday news program called The Open Mind. When asked by the moderator about future plans for the MIA, King admitted: “In Montgomery we have not worked out any next steps, that is, in any chronological order. We are certainly committed to work and press on until segregation is nonexis- tent in Montgomery and all over the South.” While plans were hazy on the local scene, King continued to take full advantage of opportunities to travel, speak, and promote the cause of justice both domestically and abroad. An appearance on the cover of Time magazine cemented King’s role as the face of not only the MIA, but also the broader civil rights struggle. Among King’s many opportunities was a request from Gold Coast prime minister Kwame Nkrumah to attend Ghana’s independence celebration. Seeking to solidify his understanding of the relationship be- tween national and international freedom movements, King accepted the invitation. Only twenty-eight years old, King had already earned the status of foreign dignitary. A few days before departing, King preached “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” at Dexter. King told his congregation that the groundswell of freedom movements around the globe demonstrated God’s power at work, leading him to be optimistic that the local struggle 5 for social change would prove successful. Before leaving, King hoped to set in motion a process that would provide the MIA with a blueprint for how they would take full advan- tage of what King called “a great time to be alive.” In a memo to Ralph Abernathy, King urged his deputy to call together a “Future Planning Committee” to chart a course for the future of the MIA. The commit- tee included Abernathy as chair, Jo Ann Robinson and Dr. Moses W. Jones as co-chairs, as well as J. E. Pierce, Solomon Seay, H. H. Hubbard, R. J. Glasco, Rufus Lewis, E. D. Nixon, Mrs. A. W. West, and Robert