WEBVTT

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A point on the mass movement,

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and this is kind of an obvious one,

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beyond that, i dont think building a mass movement is always the gauge

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of the success of a tactic.

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If that was the case, indigenous blockades would not be happening,

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because we'd have to wait for every single canadian

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to denounce canadian patriotism

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and canadian nationalism.

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Direct action happens because there is a need for it.

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Direct action happens because people are fighting back.

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And we're not waiting millions of people to stand beside us for the revolution to happen.

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In terms of, um, 2 more points,

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im really sorry.

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2 more points.

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In terms of the media and law enforcement,

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this is probably a really obvious point,

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but we cannot let them mediate our debates.

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This should be really obvious,

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but the media and law enforcement cannot,

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cannot dictate the terms of our debates.

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And most of what i have seen

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is this idea that we have been denounced in the media,

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and therefore we have lost our credibility

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because of the media.

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As far as im concerned the media was never on our side,

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the media is not the gauge of the success of our protests,

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and the corporate media and the police should not be let off the hook

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by us replicating their smears,

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by us replicating their denunciations.

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Instead, we should be very very clear,

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and we should have some more nuance than denouncing our comrades as violent.

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And the fact that, the fact that the media is not picking up

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on why theres property destruction against the Hudson's Bay Company

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is not the fault of the black bloc.

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Let's be clear, ok?

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The media has not picked up for 7 years on why people are protesting the olympics.

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So let's, yknow, before we're going to start denouncing our comrades,

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let's be clear about who our allies are,

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and who our enemies are.

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Um, in terms of the fact that the black bloc, um,

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reinforces and legitimizes the police state,

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the resistance will legitimize the police state.

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And if that argument is going to be used,

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then we may as well never be on the streets.

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Um, you know, so to me that kind of argument is a false one.

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Because the police state justifies itself.

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We cannot hold our allies accountable

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for the increased police brutality and the increased visits from VISU we may get.

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Final point.

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Solidarity does not equal censorship, folks,

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Um, so, as far as im concerned i dont think that anyone who engages in black bloc tactics

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or supports them

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is asking for our allies to censor themselves.

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What i am asking for

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is for people to not have facebook comments like

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"silly black bloc" or "fuck the police and fuck diversity of tactics".

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We can emphasize communication between our allies.

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And as far as i know,

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i have never seen comments

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--and im using facebook as a gauge, because thats my only gauge as of this morning

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about these debates--

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i have never seen comments coming from any other allies,

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including radical allies

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denouncing other peoples rallies.

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i have never seen people denounce, you know,

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"why is Svend Robinson or Libby Davies or you know Jenny Kwan speaking at rallies?"

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Thats never happened, and ive never seen it on facebook so,

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if we're gonna talk about some kind of equality of how we want to treat each other with respect?

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Then lets do that.

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Lets not denounce people publicly.

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Lets not denounce people in vague generalizations.

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Let's have a commitment to dialogue.

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Let's have a commitment to doing so, um, in person.

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So this idea that somehow um the black bloc are the ones running around denouncing people

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i havent seent that in my experience in vancouver in 7 years,

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but i have this week seen it going the other way around.

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Um, i think i wanna end,

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i unfortunately dont have permission to read this poem,

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but i hope if Cynthia sees this on tv or otherwise, um, is out there,

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she wont mind, because, theres nothing more that i can say.

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And this is from a good friend, um, and a dear sister who wrote a poem,

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and ill only read --yay! she's right here!!--

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in honour of anti-olympic comrades of the Heart Attack action of Feb 13, these are excerpts:

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"We are real

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these arms they do break

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these throats they do get parched

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these legs they do crumble

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these hearts they do beat

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we do laugh

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we do love

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we do bleed

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we are afraid

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we are brave

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we do press on

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and are born every morning

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thankful for the sun

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we will not forget

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nor abandon ourselves

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in the face of riot gear

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fortified condos

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and the ambitions of the rich

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those who would rather be assets

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than members of a people

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we are more than collateral

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we will not build a pyre for our sisters and brothers to burn

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we will not glorify our own ashes

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we will plant trees

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and build homes

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and tell our stories

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we are here

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and we are not going anywhere"

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Thank you.

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[applause]