Black Bloc violence at protest.

[jasmeel]

Dumpster
By William Rivers Pitt

Saturday 24 September 2005 3:24 PM

The Bloc just flipped a dumpster into the road. They are trashing newspaper boxes and leaving them in the middle of the streets. The cops are moving in.

http://www.truthout.org/campcaseydc.shtml

<What is the Black Bloc?>

[skooooo]

1. This is what it wil take to get media attention.

[hardrainfallin]

4. unfortunately more fodder for the image of "savage, violent" black

folk.

no further comment, at the risk of offending the DU majority.

[JohnLocke]

9. The black bloc is not black people

They are named for the typically black garb they wear for uniformity (black being the colour of the anarchist flag).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Bloc

[hardrainfallin]

10. oops. thanks for correction. n/t

[SpiralHawk]

17. You can take that demeaning "Indian" cartoon

and stuff it where it belongs, in the dugout crapper.

I like Cleveland, and I like the Indians baseball team -- but the PickaNinny Indian Cartoon is digraceful. Stuff it.

[hardrainfallin]

19. uh...that demeaning cartoon was actually a protest of its

existence, which was clear until the moderators DELETED the sig line which said:

What are these disgusting Indian mascots doing on this board! They don't belong here.

And yes, I'm pissed as hell about having to take the time to point out this issue, which really ought to be self-evident.

In case you hadn't picked up on it, I AM american indian (Ojibwe) and was disgusted to find that these little creatures are even being made available to posters here.

Now I have finally made it into its own thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4873098

But have been making comments about it for awhile

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4865483&mesg_id=4870149

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4865483&mesg_id=4870023

[SpiralHawk]

23. Thanks, hardfallin

Was unable to grok it as a protest.

[mcscajun]

11. It's about clothing, not race.

The Black Bloc isn't Black People.

They dress in black, they wear black masks, they march and act in a bloc.

[alarcojon]

15. Speaking of offending

about your avatar.....

[hardrainfallin]

20. Yeah, about "my" avatar

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4873098&mesg_id=4873098

I had originally chosen the avatar in the attempt to PROTEST its existence: there was a sig line that read s.t. like WHAT ARE THESE DISGUSTING AVATARS DOING ON DU?

The sig line was removed, without notice by the mods.

Would it help you if I were to call myself Ogitchidaequay or Walking In Shit-Faced Eagle Feathers?

For the Record: Hardrainfallin' is American Indian (Ojibwe).

edited for typo:

[alarcojon]

21. Notice my reply on your thread

especially compared to some of the others, and reserve your scorn for someone else. How was I supposed to know you were protesting the symbol based on your post? Your username? I'm so sorry I didn't know hardrainfallin was trademarked by the Ojibwe....

[hardrainfallin]

22. no, you mised my point and sorry to have been so blunt,

but the assumption that everyone on this board is cut from the same loaf of wonderbread gets old, and the only way to counter it, I suppose, is to attach some sort of visibly "Indian" name or avatar. My comments were "tongue-in-cheek".

I'm Indian, but it's not all I am (in fact, I am indeed mixed race, but even if I weren't, I would defend my right to be named "Joe Smith" and still be Indian; I probably wouldn't want to "waste" my Indian name as a screenname.)

Yeah, so I'm Indian. And am also a Dylan fan.

The source of this whole little spat was the mods going in there and deleting, without warning or notice, the "disclaimer" I had placed in the sig line.

[mcscajun]

2. Black Bloc: Anarchists

So their actions today aren't much of a surprise.

[xultar]

3. It may even help to get MSM coverage!

[htuttle]

5. They're always there

Sometimes they do things, sometimes they just play drums or just sit down in the street.

I don't know I'd characterize flipping a dumpster as 'violence', however. "Vandalism", sure.

They are a non-organized movement of mostly anti-globalization affinity groups that engage in direct action. "Direct action" is various forms of civil disobedience, some include 'vandalism' in that, some do not. Most of them claim anarchist politics of one shade or another, but that's not really what characterizes them.

[JohnLocke]

6. Here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Bloc

[gollygee]

13. I have a question about that article

"Black blocs tend to be Leftist, usually anarchist-aligned, and may also include situationists, communists and other radical Far Left groups."

So what exactly is "Leftist" with a capital L that I read all over? And why are the F and L of "Far Left groups" capitalized?

[Jeanette in FL]

7. Latest from Will

Gone
By William Rivers Pitt

Saturday 24 September 2005 3:32 PM

The Bloc went one way, I am going another.

The cops were laughing at them.

[meisje]

8. no, over there!

[salin]

14. lol

[salin]

12. Easy folks - not a big deal according to Pitt

read the next entry. Cops just laughed at the folks.

[KharmaTrain]

16. Just Enough To Get Some TV Attention...

Distorts and ruins the message that this day was supposed to be about. It turns what was supposed to be a message demanding accountability into a diversion of special interest and "hooligans".

Weren't these the same people who were involved with setting fire to the dragon during the NYC march, or was that another group?

Images at this point mean a lot. In the hey days of the Civil Rights movement, the SCLC and other moderate groups worked hard to keep the more radical elements out of their protests and kept the focus on Equal Rights. The Anti-War movement, if there is to be one, has to find a focus and a positive message, not ones that fill the TV screens with hate and chaos.

[Field Of Dreams]

18. They are entitled to their own views...

but at leat they should have the courage to show their faces if part of their agenda is to create mischief/mayhem or whatever in public venues.