Social Protests and the Civil Rights Movement Mr. Williams talked about his experiences during the civil rights movement. He was a field director for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and went to jail over a hundred times during nonviolent protests. Mr. Williams said the struggle for civil rights in the United States is not over and in some ways African-Americans are in worse shape than during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Following his presentation, Mr. Williams answered questions from the students. close