152 BECOMING KING Graetz. At the first meeting, the committee discussed implementing an eight-point program for the organization. Proposed initiatives included nonpartisan political education and involvement, an emphasis on inter- racial communication, providing means for adult education, and improv- ing recreation opportunities for African Americans in the city. They also sought to improve the economic status of Montgomery’s black citizens through securing more good jobs, providing better housing, promoting neighborhood businesses, establishing credit unions and perhaps a Sav- ings and Loan, and continuing financial relief efforts. Finally, the commit- tee hoped to pursue better cooperation with the police while recognizing the need for an “impartial investigation of alleged intimidations and dis- 6 criminations” by law enforcement. Soon after King’s return from Ghana, the committee settled on a plan for the future of the MIA. They began their written blueprint for the organization with an idealistic preamble: Recognizing that every community has the basic potential for the solution of social problems and the implementation of legal deci- sions which redefine the ideals set forth by the founders of this nation, and that ultimately the local community is the proving ground for the social progress of the nation; and recognizing that the only feasible solution to the problems of group relations and race relations is through the Christian and non-violent approach; and recognizing that enforced segregation is a social evil which must be eradicated before any group or people can reach their full social, political, economic, and moral maturity; and desiring to provide a far-reaching MIA program that would embrace both the immediate and the remote problems, and at the same time center its aims upon the building of a bigger, a better, and a more beautiful community, wherein good group relations and good race relations exist; we therefore set forth the following ten-point program. Despite consistent backlash from segregationists, the MIA dared to dream big as they prepared for the future. They believed Montgomery would continue to be a primary proving ground for the burgeoning civil rights