Since its inception a year ago, the Spokescouncil (or just “Spokes,” as members often refer to themselves) says the group has organized most of the public actions made to draw attention to the anti-Iraq-war movement, including pickets at various private contractors (CACI International and Computer Sciences Corporation among them), the “Day of Wailing” to mourn Iraqi casualties, a Bikes Against Bush rally, the Day of Resistance Against War and All Who Profit From It (last Sept. 11), and the J20 Anti-Inaugural March – where, they say, a protester was unnecessarily Tasered by police. “I feel like the mobilizations we’ve been doing are a bit more exciting than going to the Capitol and listening to some college professor drone on and on until you cry,” laughs Jerry Bellow, a veteran activist who has worked with the Anti-Racist Action group for the past 11 years. “Every action that we’ve done has had double the numbers – or more – of the previous one.”

What started as a call for an emergency spokescouncil by the ARA to organize in reaction to the U.S. soldiers’ abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has become a full-fledged matrix of organizing for Austin’s activist community. A recent Spokes meeting included representatives of Austin Against War, CodePink, the ARA, the ACLU, the Rhizome Collective, Resurgent Tide, Food Not Bombs, the fledgling UT anti-war group Campus Antiwar Movement to End the Occupation, and local high schools Garza and McCallum – quite a range in a community commonly considered to be somewhat scattered. “Up until this past year, I would go to a different meeting every night, just trying to keep all the groups connected,” recalls Russell, who represents CodePink and the ACLU at Spokes meetings.