Black Bloc Tactics - 10 Quick Points! (1 of 3)
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0:14 - 0:16my names Harsha,
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0:16 - 0:18um, id like to start by acknowledging we're gathered here
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0:18 - 0:20on unceded occupied Coast Salish Territory,
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0:20 - 0:23Burrard, Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh and Sḵwxwú7mesh land.
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0:23 - 0:26And thank you to the organizers for hosting this discussion.
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0:26 - 0:29Um, i have to admit, in terms of this debate,
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0:29 - 0:30i know its been going on for a week,
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0:30 - 0:33but ive only just read all the facebook mesages,
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0:33 - 0:36and all the emails that are floating around this morning,
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0:36 - 0:38as i was trying to prepare my thoughts,
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0:38 - 0:42so im really frustrated and really angry to be quite honest.
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0:42 - 0:48Um, and im not gonna be kind of engaging in esoteric generalizations about diversity of tactics,
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0:48 - 0:52because i think just that very starting point is problematic,
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0:52 - 0:53and ill explain why.
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0:53 - 0:55So ill try to be as specific as possible,
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0:55 - 0:58um, about what happened on saturday,
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0:58 - 1:01um, and what the organizing of that looked like,
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1:01 - 1:03so that we can be as specific as possible
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1:03 - 1:05rather than generally making you know
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1:05 - 1:08huge generalizations about diversity of tactics.
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1:08 - 1:11Um, i want to locate myself within this dialogue first.
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1:11 - 1:13i dont personally engage in black bloc tactics,
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1:13 - 1:14but as a long time community organizer
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1:14 - 1:16and as a woman of colour
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1:16 - 1:20i want to stand in full and firm support of diversity of tactics,
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1:20 - 1:21and in solidarity with those who do,
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1:21 - 1:25and particularly those who are facing police repression,
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1:25 - 1:27um, during this time.
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1:27 - 1:31i did march on february 13th, um, in the Heart Attack demonstration,
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1:31 - 1:32with other members of No One Is Illegal,
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1:32 - 1:35which as people know is a collective of predominantly people of colour,
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1:35 - 1:38and non biologically male identified members,
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1:38 - 1:41and in communication with other affinity groups,
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1:41 - 1:43which included the Indigenous Environmental Network,
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1:43 - 1:45some Downtown Eastside elders,
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1:45 - 1:46the Pink Clowns,
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1:46 - 1:47two members of whom were arrested,
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1:47 - 1:49and StopWar.ca
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1:49 - 1:52While i cannot speak for the personal motivations and intentions
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1:52 - 1:53of those who engage in black bloc tactics,
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1:53 - 1:56i think the distance that i do have from those tactics
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1:56 - 1:59is somewhat useful in this debate.
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1:59 - 2:00Firstly because theres this idea
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2:00 - 2:04that only those who engage in black bloc actions support black bloc tactics.
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2:04 - 2:06And this is an attempt to marginalize and isolate our comrades,
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2:06 - 2:10which i hope my presence and the presence of others here will counter.
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2:10 - 2:13Secondly, theres a dichotomy that is being created between
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2:13 - 2:17so-called community day-to-day organizing, and insurrectionary actions.
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2:17 - 2:20Critics of this past saturday have made false digs about the lack of organizing
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2:20 - 2:23and commitment to movement-building by anarchists.
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2:23 - 2:25i am a self-identified anarchist.
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2:25 - 2:26There are countless examples,
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2:26 - 2:29but one that i will provide that is current is the Olympic Tent Village
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2:29 - 2:33because its being thrown around a whole lot in the context of this debate.
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2:33 - 2:37Um, as people know, the Olympic Tent Village is happening right now at 58 West Hastings,
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2:37 - 2:40on a Concord Pacific lot thats currently being leased out by VANOC.
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2:40 - 2:44And a anarchist, self-identified anarchist, members who engage in black bloc actions
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2:44 - 2:46have put in countless hours.
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2:46 - 2:49And by countless hours, i mean 16 hour days,
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2:49 - 2:51to contribute to the tent village.
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2:51 - 2:54That includes graveyard shifts to do security,
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2:54 - 2:56and this might, um, be a surprise to someone,
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2:56 - 2:58but that includes de-escalation with law enforcement,
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2:58 - 3:01which the black bloc is completely capable of doing;
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3:01 - 3:04construction, cooking, and cleanup of the site,
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3:04 - 3:07under the leadership of DTES residents and elders.
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3:07 - 3:09So i want to take a moment here to thank everyone,
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3:09 - 3:13particularly black bloc, and black bloc identified anarchists
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3:13 - 3:17who are supporting the DTES tent village.
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3:21 - 3:24As someone who is on the site over 20 hours a day,
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3:24 - 3:26i can say that sadly the same cannot be said to be true
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3:26 - 3:29of those who appear to be strategically utilizing actions like the tent city
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3:29 - 3:31and debates about movement-building.
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3:36 - 3:37Finally, one of the --
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3:37 - 3:39im talking generally here--
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3:39 - 3:41finally, one of the criticisms of the black bloc tactic
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3:41 - 3:43is that it is undertaken by predominantly white males
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3:43 - 3:45and therefore inherently oppressive,
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3:45 - 3:47is inherently opporessive to women of colour,
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3:47 - 3:49and indigenous women in particular.
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3:49 - 3:52As a woman of colour with a myriad of precarious systemic barriers
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3:52 - 3:53including legal status and health,
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3:53 - 3:55and i can only speak for myself,
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3:55 - 3:58but i can say that the black bloc tactic does not in itself oppress me,
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3:58 - 4:01or render me more vulnerable in protests.
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4:01 - 4:04So id appreciate it if other white men did not make such pronouncements on my behalf,
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4:04 - 4:08or decide what would keep me safe.
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4:08 - 4:09And perhaps instead they can focus
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4:09 - 4:14on their own organizational and personal patterns of dominance and privilege.
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4:14 - 4:15So that being said, i want to make 10 quick points
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4:15 - 4:18on the black bloc.
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4:18 - 4:21First of all, the black bloc is a tactic.
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4:21 - 4:24Like any other tactic, it cannot be judged in itself,
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4:24 - 4:27but can only be judged as part of a spectrum of a much broader movement,
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4:27 - 4:31and as part of a spectrum of tactics that we all engage in.
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4:31 - 4:33Um, the black bloc has various utilities,
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4:33 - 4:36both defensive and offensive.
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4:36 - 4:37I think one point thats often missed,
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4:37 - 4:41is the defensive strategies around the black bloc.
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4:41 - 4:45As people know, a lot of black bloc activity which predates the Heart Attack action,
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4:45 - 4:48going back to the '70's and '80's in Europe,
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4:48 - 4:53includes really important actions including de-arresting comrades,
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4:53 - 4:56and the very basic principle of "no comrade left behind",
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4:56 - 5:01that we do not leave people in the police lines
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5:01 - 5:01and decide to flee,
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5:01 - 5:04and for that the black bloc is deeply courageous,
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5:04 - 5:07and i think the idea that they are simply testosterone driven,
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5:07 - 5:11um, is a smear tactic that i dont think we can buy into,
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5:11 - 5:12because from my perspective,
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5:12 - 5:16whether or not i choose to engage in black bloc actions and black bloc activities,
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5:16 - 5:19the fact that there are comrades who are willing to stand in the front lines,
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5:19 - 5:26and defend other comrades is deeply courageous and absolutely demands our support.
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5:29 - 5:31In terms of issues, just realted to that,
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5:31 - 5:35i want to quote Barbara Eherenheich,
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5:35 - 5:38who suggests that one of the biggest utilities of the black bloc
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5:38 - 5:42is it really "breaks the heavily ritualized nature of modern civil disobedience".
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5:42 - 5:46And when we talk about tactics,
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5:46 - 5:50we have to be able to gauge black bloc tactic amongst many other tactics.
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5:50 - 5:53So the fact that other tactics may or may not be more effective
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5:53 - 5:58does not in itself render the black bloc tactic any less effective.
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5:58 - 5:59I think thats important to state.
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5:59 - 6:03Um, because its all been reduced to whether window smashing is effective or not,
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6:03 - 6:06and i think that as a starting point is fundamentally problematic
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6:06 - 6:09because this movement is about more than window breaking,
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6:09 - 6:12and is also about window breaking.
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6:15 - 6:19In terms of the protest tactic of the black bloc,
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6:19 - 6:21um, i want to touch on a second point,
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6:21 - 6:25or sorry, i want to finish on that point in terms of the black bloc tactic and the mask,
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6:25 - 6:26because Derrick brought up specifically
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6:26 - 6:29a point of anonymity.
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6:29 - 6:30And i think that the fact that people are anonymous
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6:30 - 6:34in not simply,um, unique to the black bloc,
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6:34 - 6:37as we know, people don masks around the world,
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6:37 - 6:40probably the most romanticized of which is the Zapatistas,
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6:40 - 6:44um, yknow, and if we're going to be able to have solidarity with global struggles,
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6:44 - 6:49we have to understand that the reasons for wearing a mask are the same,
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6:49 - 6:51whether its in Chiapas, in Palestine,
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6:51 - 6:53or its the black bloc on our streets.
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6:53 - 6:55State surveillance, and state policing
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6:55 - 6:57particularly in the context of the olympics,
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6:57 - 7:02where people have had visits by the vancouver integrated security unit,
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7:02 - 7:04means that people need to protect themselves.
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7:04 - 7:06To me, the black bloc is not anonymous,
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7:06 - 7:07it's a tactic,
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7:07 - 7:10and the members of the black bloc are people that are known to me,
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7:10 - 7:11if people want to come down to tent village,
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7:11 - 7:13youll prbably meet many of them.
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7:14 - 7:19Um, my 2nd point that i want to make in terms of the black bloc,
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7:19 - 7:21and i wont spend much time on it, cuz i dont think theres much debate here,
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7:21 - 7:25and that is if the black bloc engages in violent tactics.
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7:25 - 7:28and you know, the only response ir eally care to make to that,
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7:28 - 7:31is that we're asking the wrong side the question about violence.
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7:31 - 7:33If we're going to talk about violence,
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7:33 - 7:36we need to be talking about corporate sponsors,
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7:36 - 7:37we need to be talking about the state,
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7:37 - 7:38we need to be talking about the military,
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7:38 - 7:40we need to be talking about the police
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7:40 - 7:44who daily commit violence on people.
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7:44 - 7:46As far as we know, not a single individual, and not a single animal
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7:46 - 7:50has been harmed in black bloc tactics.
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7:50 - 7:53What has been harmed is lifeless windows.
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7:53 - 7:54Ok?
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7:54 - 7:56So lets be very clear about what we talk about violence
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7:56 - 8:00before we start to perpetuate mainstream media rhetoric about violence,
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8:00 - 8:05and play into and feed into our enemys rhetoric.
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8:06 - 8:08The 3rd point, and ive already talked about this,
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8:08 - 8:12and that is that all tactics should be judged from the same starting point.
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8:12 - 8:15And i think this is for me the crux of the argument.
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8:15 - 8:20For me, its not that black bloc tactics in specific contexts are immune from criticism.
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8:20 - 8:24If people have criticisms about the 13th that are involved in organizing--
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8:24 - 8:27i need water, im really worked up--
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8:30 - 8:32If people have criticisms about the 13th,
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8:32 - 8:35then lets talk about specific criticisms,
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8:35 - 8:36but all that we have seen
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8:36 - 8:40is a general denunciation of property destruction.
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8:40 - 8:44And as far as im concerned every tactic is immune to criticism,
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8:44 - 8:46that includes if we're gonna have mass rallies,
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8:46 - 8:47where politicians are given a free stage to speak,
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8:47 - 8:53despite their daily obscenities and the daily violence that politicians in this government
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8:53 - 8:55are responsible for.
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8:55 - 9:00We can talk about the fact that, you know, symbolic rallies once a year are equally ineffective.
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9:00 - 9:01So if we're going to talk about ineffectiveness,
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9:01 - 9:08we need to be able to have the same starting point for every single tactic.
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9:09 - 9:11And from everything that ive seen,
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9:12 - 9:14we dont have these debates.
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9:14 - 9:14im thankful for this debate,
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9:14 - 9:17but the next time that theres a rally at the vancovuer art gallery
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9:17 - 9:19appealing for a national housing strategy,
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9:19 - 9:21lets talk about its effectiveness, right?
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9:21 - 9:24Lets not condemn it, let's talk about its effectiveness.
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9:25 - 9:27And i think thats important to state,
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9:27 - 9:31because everything that is happening in terms of denouncing black bloc tactics
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9:31 - 9:35relies on simplistic characatures about what it means.
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9:35 - 9:39All it relies on is these characatures of white, young, males who are hooded in black
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9:39 - 9:41and go around and smash shit.
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9:41 - 9:43And black bloc tactics is so much more than that,
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9:43 - 9:46this is a strategy that is part of a movement.
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9:46 - 9:49Um, and we cant romanticize or generalize either way, right?
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9:49 - 9:50So tactics can be effective,
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9:50 - 9:51they can be ineffective,
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9:51 - 9:53but inherently they are neither.
- Title:
- Black Bloc Tactics - 10 Quick Points! (1 of 3)
- Description:
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(1 of 3) No One is Illegal's Harsha Walia speaks about the diversity of tactics strategy and the black bloc tactic (10 Quick Points!) and experiences of the tactic in the context of 2010 Olympics resistance, Heart Attack .
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 09:54