The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was formed in January 1957 by Rev. Martin Luther King, Bayard Rustin, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, and others in order to coordinate nonviolent protests to desegregate bus systems throughout the South. As the Civil Rights Movement progressed, the organization was often seen as a middle-ground between the old guard NAACP and more radical organizations such as CORE and SNCC. The SCLC Newsletter was published irregularly from 1961-1967. It was eventually superseded by the SCLC National Magazine, which began in 1972.