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Rachael's Way

 Letter from Inside the Black Bloc
Mary Black*, AlterNet
July 25, 2001

EXCERPT: The mainstream media's current consensus is that the Black Bloc is bad and extremely dangerous. The progressive media's most common line is that the Black Bloc is bad, but at least their aren't many of us. Everyone seems to call Black Bloc protesters violent. Violence is a
tricky concept. I'm not totally clear what actions are violent, and what are not. And when is a violent action considered self defense? I believe that using the word violent to describe breaking the window of a Nike store takes meaning away from the word. Nike makes shoes out of toxic
chemicals in poor countries using exploitative labor practices. Then they sell the shoes for vastly inflated prices to poor black kids from the first world. In my view, this takes resources out of poor communities on both sides of the
globe, increasing poverty and suffering. I think poverty and suffering could well be described as violent, or at least as creating violence.

What violence does breaking a window at Nike Town cause? It makes a loud noise; maybe that is what is considered violent. It creates broken glass, which could hurt people, although most of the time those surrounding the window are only Black Bloc protesters who are aware of the risks of broken glass. It costs a giant multi-billion dollar corporation money to replace their window. Is that violent? (Full Text).

After Carlo Giuliani, Peaceful Protests Must Continue
Kenny Bruno, CorpWatch
July 25, 2001

EXCERPT: They rightly pointed out that breaking a few windows at NikeTown and Starbucks was trivial compared with the violence unleashed by corporate-driven globalization, and that the vast majority of the violence during the WTO meeting was perpetrated by the police. But this does not
excuse the use of weapons and violence by some of the black bloc. The demonstrations are in danger of losing their mass appeal as shattered glass, smashed ATMs and molotov cocktail- wielding anarchists continue to be their most prominent feature. The organizers must do more to stop violent individuals from participating.  For Full text