Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Dream for America Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in 1929 and throughout his life he became a very important figure to the people of our Nation. He was a Baptist minister and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. On August 28, 1963, Dr. King led the poor people's march on Washington, where he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Since then this speech has been used as a model for speech writers all over the U.S. Martin Luther King, Jr. begins his speech by discussing the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. He states, “This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves . . .” (King