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A Struggle to Organize Against War

Collectives' difficult task to unite diverse groups for common cause

Wednesday, October 30, 2002
By P. Ryan Petkoff
Daily Texan Staff

Campus Coalition for Peace and Justice members Jeff Casey and Isaac Lyles discuss Tuesday the upcoming events for their group in Parlin Hall.
Image Credit: Christina Tambakakis -- The Daily Texan.

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Location -- DT
Pat Youngblood needs to rest.

Youngblood has spent the last year working two jobs and raising his 5-year-old son. He spends most of his day at the Texas School for the Deaf, but began building decks and framing houses for extra money when his son Colin started kindergarten this year.

In addition to all those responsibilities, he has another cause to promote.

Youngblood is one of a handful of Austin activists spending every waking moment to prevent the Bush administration from starting a war.

"The frustration is struggling to use the time I do devote effectively," he said. "I have a lot of energy and passion for these ideas, but if time is spent on unproductive topics, it takes a lot out of me."

Last September, he and a number of concerned Austinites founded Austin Against War, an activist collective initiated to oppose the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan and the negative Arab and Islamic sentiments that surfaced.

Austin Against War maintained steady numbers at meetings and teach-ins throughout last year, but in the past three months, the group and others like it around the country have seen a considerable increase in community involvement.

Youngblood updates the group's Web site most nights. He said the homepage used to grab no more than 70 hits a day but now averages about 300. He credits tireless promotion by members as the reason for the increase.

Erin Rogers, a grass-roots outreach coordinator for the Austin Sierra Club, said the Bush administration's weak case for war has many looking for alternatives.

"Opposing an attack in Iraq is a much more clear-cut issue for most people than opposing an attack on al-Qaida or the Taliban," Rogers said. "It's very obvious to most people that an unprovoked attack on Iraq is nothing more than an expensive and dangerous ploy to expand the U.S. empire."

* Obstacles
* ‘Enormous Potential'
* Obstacles
* ‘Enormous Potential'
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2002 © The Daily Texan.

Dan