A point on the mass movement,
and this is kind of an obvious one,
beyond that, i dont think building a mass movement is always the gauge
of the success of a tactic.
If that was the case, indigenous blockades would not be happening,
because we'd have to wait for every single canadian
to denounce canadian patriotism
and canadian nationalism.
Direct action happens because there is a need for it.
Direct action happens because people are fighting back.
And we're not waiting millions of people to stand beside us for the revolution to happen.
In terms of, um, 2 more points,
im really sorry.
2 more points.
In terms of the media and law enforcement,
this is probably a really obvious point,
but we cannot let them mediate our debates.
This should be really obvious,
but the media and law enforcement cannot,
cannot dictate the terms of our debates.
And most of what i have seen
is this idea that we have been denounced in the media,
and therefore we have lost our credibility
because of the media.
As far as im concerned the media was never on our side,
the media is not the gauge of the success of our protests,
and the corporate media and the police should not be let off the hook
by us replicating their smears,
by us replicating their denunciations.
Instead, we should be very very clear,
and we should have some more nuance than denouncing our comrades as violent.
And the fact that, the fact that the media is not picking up
on why theres property destruction against the Hudson's Bay Company
is not the fault of the black bloc.
Let's be clear, ok?
The media has not picked up for 7 years on why people are protesting the olympics.
So let's, yknow, before we're going to start denouncing our comrades,
let's be clear about who our allies are,
and who our enemies are.
Um, in terms of the fact that the black bloc, um,
reinforces and legitimizes the police state,
the resistance will legitimize the police state.
And if that argument is going to be used,
then we may as well never be on the streets.
Um, you know, so to me that kind of argument is a false one.
Because the police state justifies itself.
We cannot hold our allies accountable
for the increased police brutality and the increased visits from VISU we may get.
Final point.
Solidarity does not equal censorship, folks,
Um, so, as far as im concerned i dont think that anyone who engages in black bloc tactics
or supports them
is asking for our allies to censor themselves.
What i am asking for
is for people to not have facebook comments like
"silly black bloc" or "fuck the police and fuck diversity of tactics".
We can emphasize communication between our allies.
And as far as i know,
i have never seen comments
--and im using facebook as a gauge, because thats my only gauge as of this morning
about these debates--
i have never seen comments coming from any other allies,
including radical allies
denouncing other peoples rallies.
i have never seen people denounce, you know,
"why is Svend Robinson or Libby Davies or you know Jenny Kwan speaking at rallies?"
Thats never happened, and ive never seen it on facebook so,
if we're gonna talk about some kind of equality of how we want to treat each other with respect?
Then lets do that.
Lets not denounce people publicly.
Lets not denounce people in vague generalizations.
Let's have a commitment to dialogue.
Let's have a commitment to doing so, um, in person.
So this idea that somehow um the black bloc are the ones running around denouncing people
i havent seent that in my experience in vancouver in 7 years,
but i have this week seen it going the other way around.
Um, i think i wanna end,
i unfortunately dont have permission to read this poem,
but i hope if Cynthia sees this on tv or otherwise, um, is out there,
she wont mind, because, theres nothing more that i can say.
And this is from a good friend, um, and a dear sister who wrote a poem,
and ill only read --yay! she's right here!!--
in honour of anti-olympic comrades of the Heart Attack action of Feb 13, these are excerpts:
"We are real
these arms they do break
these throats they do get parched
these legs they do crumble
these hearts they do beat
we do laugh
we do love
we do bleed
we are afraid
we are brave
we do press on
and are born every morning
thankful for the sun
we will not forget
nor abandon ourselves
in the face of riot gear
fortified condos
and the ambitions of the rich
those who would rather be assets
than members of a people
we are more than collateral
we will not build a pyre for our sisters and brothers to burn
we will not glorify our own ashes
we will plant trees
and build homes
and tell our stories
we are here
and we are not going anywhere"
Thank you.
[applause]