black bloc

Epilogue on the Movement against Capitalist Globalization

Epilogue on the Movement against Capitalist Globalization

From CrimethInc.

22 Years after N30—What It Can Teach Us Today

Twenty-two years ago today, anarchists and other protesters successfully blockaded and shut down the summit of the World Trade Organization in Seattle. This was the dramatic debut of what journalists dubbed the “anti-globalization movement”—in fact, a global movement against neoliberal capitalism. Over the past few years, we have observed the twenty-year anniversaries of several of the high points of this movement. Today, we reflect on its origins and what it can teach contemporary movements.

Only Anarchists Are Pretty

With a flash of the ankle, snarl of the lip I see you in the street and gasp Cause Only Anarchists Are Only Anarchists Are Only Anarchists Are Pretty

From C4SS by Logan Marie Glitterbomb

An Anarchist Guide to Fashion Part 2: Dressing for Anonymity

Whether you’re at a protest, engaging in direct action of questionable legality, or just trying to avoid detection in everyday life by police, fascists, or surveillance systems such as facial recognition technology, there are numerous reasons for anarchists to be concerned with maintaining anonymity, and the way one dresses can be one of the most important factors.

In Defense of Black Bloc at NYC Protests

via AMW

On the Breonna Taylor March

While the language of “No Bad Protesters” and “No Peace police” is common amongst abolitionists, anti-fascists, and anarchists, many within the broader Black Lives Matter movement were shocked to see the Black Bloc. One protester accused the Black Bloc of being outside agitators and inciting violence. Another questioned why the Black Bloc insisted on thoroughly disguising their identity.

Welcome to the Frontlines: Beyond Violence and Nonviolence

Welcome to the Frontlines: Beyond Violence and Nonviolence

From Chuang

Over the past two weeks, the US has seen some of the largest, most militant protests and riots in decades. The now nationwide movement began in Minneapolis following the police murder of George Floyd. The anger that followed led to mass demonstrations, confrontations with the police, arson and looting, mourning and rebellion that spread across the country within a matter of hours. The Minneapolis Third Precinct station house, where the murderers had worked, was burned to the ground, and police cars were set aflame from New York to LA in the most widespread damage to the punitive edifices of the US state seen in this century, fueled by decades of anger at racist policing and the ceaseless stream of police murders of Black people. Now, even the reform-oriented electoral left is seriously discussing a softened version of police abolition on a national level, re-imagined as “defunding,” and the Minneapolis City Council has pledged to “disband” the city’s police department. Not long ago, such a demand would have been considered utopian.

Summer in Smoke

The frontlines are organized anonymously. People pay cash for SIM cards to register temporary phone numbers on encrypted messaging apps like Telegram, where individuals sign up for tasks like building barricades or disabling traffic lights. In contrast to black blocs in America, where affinity groups are based around trusted friendship networks, nobody on the frontlines in Hong Kong knows each other outside the protests.

“Stand Against Amazon and Gentrification” An Unofficial Reportback and Analysis

“Stand Against Amazon and Gentrification” An Unofficial Reportback and Analysis

From Puget Sound Anarchists

On November 23rd a black bloc of about 20 anti-capitalists gathered at Westlake park from there marched on the Amazon Spheres. The following is personal account and analysis from the perspective of an anarchist outside of the core groups that called for the action.

Report Back from Youth Led Anarchist Bloc at #ClimateStrike

From IGD

On Friday, the 21st of September, the climate strike happened. When I showed up for it around 9:30am, it was a supremely liberal affair, though a massive one – thousands of people gathered in and around a park across the street from city hall, despite the official start time not being 10:30am. Despite having come on the call-up of the PNW-YLF, I barely saw them in evidence.

Organise! Magazine Review of Van Deusen’s On Anarchism: Dispatches from the People’s Republic of Vermont

Reading this collection of essays, it’s clear David Van Deusen has lived an interesting life. To start, Van Deusen takes us on an exciting history of his involvement in The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective. He writes about efforts against racist group The Minutemen, daily struggles of organization and introduces the question of violence and non-violence used as a tactic and strategy, a topic he goes in to in more detail later in the book. Reading the first chapter on the history of Van Deusen and the collective he was part of does intrigue the reader to get stuck in to the book. It intrigues as you build a mental image of the man in your head and after the opening stories, you want to know what else he has been part of. Although the title may suggest more enjoyment for people familiar with the northeast of the USA, the book still has lots to offer those who are not. The second set of essays focuses on Theory, including two great reads The Rise of Capitalism and Authoritarian Communism as An Incomplete Resistance. These two essays are written with pace and vigor sometimes lacking in other parts of the book. Some of the essays are so crammed with theories and ideas, I needed a rest between them to let it sink in. A nice touch here: Van Deusen intersperses the theories with song lyrics from the Who, the Clash, Public Enemy and many others; this helps the reader to digest the previous essay and get ready for the next.

Between the Sun and the Sea: Icarus at 12th and L

Several blocks before the L & 12th Street intersection, I was already feeling that the march had run its course. At each cross street, we met a line of police, sirens blaring. A few brave souls still managed to fell some final windows on the periphery. Yet while the Bank of America windows had crashed in triumphant cacophony, these windows struck the pavement with an urgency that reflected our increasingly dire situation. We had no destination, no end goal. It felt as though we were running solely to evade police. I knew that it was time to break from the group, yet I still held a kind of separation anxiety.

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