N30
Black Bloc Communique
The Peace Police Response
to the Black Bloc Ten
Myths About the Black Bloc
Motivations of the Black Bloc On
the Violence of Property
by
ACME Collective 10:48am Sat Dec 4 '99
A communique from one section
of the black bloc of N30 in Seattle
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, philisophocally or otherwize.
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 home-towns 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
Disclaimer: These
observations and analyses represent only those of
the 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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