> (en) N30 Black Bloc Communique about Seattle US
>
> >From ACME Collective <acmecollective at coldmail.com>
> Date Sun, 5 Dec 1999 06:12:23 -0500
> ________________________________________________
> A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
> http://www.ainfos.ca/
> ________________________________________________
>
> Report from one section of the anarchist black bloc during Seattle's N30
>
> On November 30, several groups of individuals in black bloc
> attacked various corporate targets in downtown Seattle.
> Among them were (to name just a few):
>
> --Fidelity Investment (major investor in Occidental Petroleum,
> the bane of the U'wa tribe in Columbia)
> --Bank of America, US Bancorp, Key Bank and Washington
> Mutual Bank (financial institutions key in the expansion of
> corporate repression)
> --Old Navy, Banana Republic and the GAP (as Fisher
> family businesses, rapers of Northwest forest lands
> and sweatshop laborers)
> --NikeTown and Levi's (whose overpriced
> products are made in sweatshops)
> --McDonald's (slave-wage fast-food peddlers
> responsible for destruction of tropical rainforests for
> grazing land and slaughter of animals)
> --Starbucks (peddlers of an addictive substance whose
> products are harvested at below-poverty wages by farmers
> who are forced to destroy their own forests in the process)
> --Warner Bros. (media monopolists)
> --Planet Hollywood (for being Planet Hollywood)
>
> This activity lasted for over 5 hours and involved the breaking
> of storefront windows and doors and defacing of facades. Slingshots,
> newspaper boxes, sledge hammers,
> mallets, crowbars and nail-pullers were used to strategically
> destroy corporate property and gain access (one of the three
> targeted Starbucks and Niketown were looted).
> Eggs filled with glass etching solution, paint-balls and
> spray-paint were also used.
>
> The black bloc was a loosely organized cluster of affinity
> groups and individuals who roamed around downtown, pulled
> this way by a vulnerable and significant storefront
> and that way by the sight of a police formation. Unlike the
> vast majority of activists who were pepper-sprayed, tear-gassed
> and shot at with rubber bullets on several occasions, most
> of our section of the black bloc escaped
> serious injury by remaining constantly in motion and avoiding engagement
> with the police. We buddied up, kept tight and watched each others'
> backs. Those attacked by federal thugs were un-arrested by quick-thinking
> and organized members of
> the black bloc. The sense of solidarity was awe-inspiring.
>
> THE PEACE POLICE
>
> Unfortunately, the presence and persistence of "peace
> police" was quite disturbing. On at least 6 separate occasions,
> so-called "non-violent" activists physically
> attacked individuals who targeted corporate property. Some
> even went so far as to stand in front of the Niketown super store
> and tackle and shove the black bloc away. Indeed, such
> self-described "peace-keepers" posed a much greater threat
> to individuals in the black bloc than the notoriously violent
> uniformed "peace-keepers" sanctioned
> by the state (undercover officers have even used the
> cover of the activist peace-keepers to ambush those
> who engage in corporate property destruction).
>
> RESPONSE TO THE BLACK BLOC
>
> Response to the black bloc has highlighted some
> of the contradictions and internal oppressions of the
> "nonviolent activist" community. Aside from the obvious hypocrisy
> of those who engaged in violence against black-clad and
> masked people (many of whom were harassed despite the
> fact that they never engaged in property destruction), there
> is the racism of privileged activists who can afford to ignore
> the violence perpetrated against the bulk of society and the
> natural world in the name of private property
> rights. Window-smashing has engaged and inspired
> many of the most oppressed members of Seattle's
> community more than any giant puppets or sea turtle costumes ever could
> (not to disparage the effectiveness of those tools in other communities).
>
> TEN MYTHS ABOUT THE BLACK BLOC
>
> Here's a little something to dispel the myths that have
> been circulating about the N30 black bloc:
>
> 1. "They are all a bunch of Eugene anarchists." While a few
> may be anarchists from Eugene, we hail from all over the
> United States, including Seattle. In any case,
> most of us are familiar with local issues in Seattle (for
> instance, the recent occupation of downtown by some of
> the most nefarious of multinational retailers).
>
> 2. "They are all followers of John Zerzan." A lot of rumors
> have been circulating that we are followers of John Zerzan,
> an anarcho-primitivist author from Eugene who
> advocates property destruction. While some of us may
> appreciate his writings and analyses, he is in no sense our
> leader, directly, indirectly, philisophically or otherwise.
>
> 3. "The mass public squat is the headquarters of the
> anarchists who destroyed property on November 30th." In
> reality, most of the people in the "Autonomous Zone" squat
> are residents of Seattle who have spent most of their time
> since its opening on the 28th in the squat. While they may
> know of one-another, the two groups are not
> co-extensive and in no case could the squat be
> considered the headquarters of people who destroyed property.
>
> 4. "They escalated situations on the 30th, leading to
> the tear-gassing of passive, non-violent protesters." To
> answer this, we need only note that tear-gassing,
> pepper-spraying and the shooting of rubber bullets all
> began before the black blocs (as far as we know)
> started engaging in property destruction. In addition, we must
> resist the tendency to establish a causal relationship between
> police repression and protest in any form, whether it involved
> property destruction or not. The police are charged with
> protecting the interests of the wealthy few and the blame
> for the violence cannot be placed upon those who protest those interests.
>
> 5. Conversely: "They acted in response to the police
> repression." While this might be a more positive
> representation of the black bloc, it is nevertheless false. We
> refuse to be misconstrued as a purely reactionary force.
> While the logic of the black bloc may not make sense to
> some, it is in any case a pro-active logic.
>
> 6. "They are a bunch of angry adolescent boys." Aside
> from the fact that it belies a disturbing ageism and sexism,
> it is false. Property destruction is not merely
> macho rabble-rousing or testosterone-laden angst release.
> Nor is it displaced and reactionary anger. It is strategically
> and specifically targeted direct action against corporate interests.
>
> 7. "They just want to fight." This is pretty absurd, and it
> conveniently ignores the eagerness of "peace police" to
> fight us. Of all the groups engaging in direct
> action, the black bloc was perhaps the least interested in
> engaging the authorities and we certainly had no interest in
> fighting with other anti-WTO activists (despite
> some rather strong disagreements over tactics).
>
> 8. "They are a chaotic, disorganized and opportunistic mob."
> While many of us could surely spend days arguing over
> what "chaotic" means, we were certainly not
> disorganized. The organization may have been fluid
> and dynamic, but it was tight. As for the charge of
> opportunism, it would be hard to imagine who of the thousands in
> attendance _didn't_ take advantage of the opportunity created
> in Seattle to advance their agenda. The question becomes,
> then, whether or not we helped create that opportunity and
> most of us certainly did (which leads us to the next myth):
>
> 9. "They don't know the issues" or "they aren't activists
> who've been working on this." While we may not be
> professional activists, we've all been working on this
> convergence in Seattle for months. Some of us did
> work in our hometowns and others came to Seattle
> months in advance to work on it. To be sure, we were responsible for
> many hundreds of people who came out on the streets on the
> 30th, only a very small minority of which had anything to do with the black
> bloc.
> Most of us have been studying the effects of the global
> economy, genetic engineering, resource extraction,
> transportation, labor practices, elimination of indigenous
> autonomy, animal rights and human rights and we've
> been doing activism on these issues for many years.
> We are neither ill-informed nor unexperienced.
>
> 10. "Masked anarchists are anti-democratic and
> secretive because they hide their identities." Let's face
> it (with or without a mask)--we aren't living in a democracy
> right now. If this week has not made it plain enough,
> let us remind you--we are living in a police state.
> People tell us that if we really think that we're right, we
> wouldn't be hiding behind masks. "The truth will prevail"
> is the assertion. While this is a fine and noble goal,
> it does not jive with the present reality. Those who
> pose the greatest threat to the interests of Capital and
> State will be persecuted. Some pacifists would have
> us accept this persecution gleefully. Others would tell us
> that it is a worthy sacrifice. We are not so morose. Nor
> do we feel we have the privilege to accept persecution
> as a sacrifice: persecution to us is a daily inevitability
> and we treasure our few freedoms. To accept incarceration
> as a form of flattery betrays a large amount of
> "first world" privilege. We feel that an attack on private
> property is necessary if we are to rebuild a world which
> is useful, healthful and joyful for everyone. And
> this despite the fact that hypertrophied private property
> rights in this country translate into felony charges for
> any property destruction over $250.
>
> MOTIVATIONS OF THE BLACK BLOC
>
> The primary purpose of this communique is to
> diffuse some of the aura of mystery that surrounds
> the black bloc and make some of its motivations
> more transparent, since our masks cannot be.
>
> ON THE VIOLENCE OF PROPERTY
>
> We contend that property destruction is not a violent
> activity unless it destroys lives or causes pain in the process.
> By this definition, private property--especially
> corporate private property--is itself infinitely more
> violent than any action taken against it.
> Private property should be distinguished from
> personal property. The latter is based upon use
> while the former is based upon trade. The premise of personal property is
> that each of us has what s/he needs. The premise of private
> property is that each of us has something that someone
> else needs or wants. In a society based on private
> property rights, those who are able to accrue more of
> what others need or want have greater power. By
> extension, they wield greater control over what others perceive as
> needs and desires, usually in the interest of increasing profit to themselves.
> Advocates of "free trade" would like to see this process to
> its logical conclusion: a network of a few industry monopolists
> with ultimate control over the lives of the everyone else.
> Advocates of "fair trade" would like to see this process
> mitigated by government regulations meant to superficially
> impose basic humanitarian standards.
> As anarchists, we despise both positions.
> Private property--and capitalism, by extension--is intrinsicly
> violent and repressive and cannot be reformed or mitigated.
> Whether the power of everyone is concentrated
> into the hands of a few corporate heads or diverted into
> a regulatory apparatus charged with mitigating the
> disasters of the latter, no one can be as free or as powerful
> as they could be in a non-hierarchical society.
> When we smash a window, we aim to destroy
> the thin veneer of legitimacy that surrounds private
> property rights. At the same time, we exorcize that set of violent and
> destructive social relationships which has been imbued
> in almost everything around us. By "destroying" private
> property, we convert its limited exchange value into an
> expanded use value. A storefront window becomes a
> vent to let some fresh air into the oppressive atmosphere
> of a retail outlet (at least until the police decide to tear-gas
> a nearby road blockade). A newspaper box becomes a
> tool for creating such vents or a small blockade for the reclamation of
> public space or an object to improve one's vantage point by
> standing on it. A dumpster becomes an obstruction to a
> phalanx of rioting cops and a source of heat and
> light. A building facade becomes a message board to
> record brainstorm ideas for a better world.
> After N30, many people will never see a shop window
> or a hammer the same way again. The potential uses of
> an entire cityscape have increased a thousand-fold. The
> number of broken windows pales in comparison to the
> number broken spells--spells cast by a corporate
> hegemony to lull us into forgetfulness of all the violence
> committed in the name of private property rights and of
> all the potential of a society without them. Broken windows
> can be boarded up (with yet more waste of our forests) and
> eventually replaced, but the shattering of assumptions
> will hopefully persist for some time to come.
>
> Against Capital and State,
>
> the ACME Collective
>
> "Peasant Revolt!"
> ---------------------
> Disclaimer: these observations and analyses represent
> only those of the ACME Collective and should not be
> construed to be representative of the rest of the black bloc on
> N30 or anyone else who engaged in riot or property destruction that day.
> ___________________________________________
>
>
>
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