From Vancouver to Toronto, Positive Developments in Anti-authoritarian Movement Building
BLOG POST posted on Juillet 13, 2010 by bineshii
... Additional insights from June 26 2010 Media Scan.
Having scanned hundreds of articles researching for the Ruehle article, I noticed a few other interesting occurrences in the mainstream press.
The first point of interest is that out of hundreds of articles, there are only a few actual original pieces. News outlets across Canada and internationally use and reuse the same articles from centralized sources: Canadian Press, Associated Press, CanWest News or QMI Agency. Articles from these sources are printed verbatim, printed in a few variations or quotes are pulled from them. Even big American news corporations just reprinted versions of articles from these sources.
The corporate monopoly on mass media was readily apparent. The grim reality that emerged was that so called local news agents were just reprinting the same article over and over across the country. Out of 660 articles, hundreds of them are versions of the same four articles.
This sorry state of corporate media is interesting and relevant to analysis of the anti-g20 Convergence, specifically in questioning how to assess public opinion when the ‘voice of the public’ (mainstream media) is literally fueled by 5 or 6 people reposted throughout every region nationally!
Not only is the real public informed (or rather misinformed) by this outrageously limited few, but it is reflected back only in this extremely restricted capacity. The amount of newsprint dedicated to anyone's cause/protest on a given day amounts to a few dozen paragraphs thinly spread all over the entire country.
Even in the diminished journalistic capacity of these corporate news outlets, the second point of interest of this media scan was the level of understanding of what black block is and it’s acceptance in the landscape of popular culture.
What is typical in mainstream news is pundits, police, and politicians railing against black bloc as criminal thugs with no sense of pride or purpose. But what is new and different in the reporting on the anti-g20 Convergence in Toronto is that reporters knew what the black block is, and dedicated a significant amount of their article space to provide a fairly accurate backgrounder for readers:
The following are a couple direct quotes pulled from the articles: “The black block is not a group, it’s a tactic” and “They wear black to avoid detection from police surveillance and also media coverage.” Reporters state that the Black Block is notoriously difficult to track because of it’s use of disguise, changing clothes and quick unpredictable movements. Many articles credit anarchist websites as the source of information they are using for this knowledge. The Canadian Press article even gives a brief history of the Black Block Tactics and its origins in Germany and the link to inforshop.org –one of the biggest English language anarchist news sites in the world.
This information contradicts the bellowing of cops and politicians that the black block is just a bunch of mindless thugs and points towards an organizational effort that not only has meaning but an internationally developed history.
Even encased in negative attention this focus on the black block should not be dismissed as mere nay saying or hating, because it indicates a successful development in the progression of a movement and a step towards broader based acceptance in mainstream society.
The understanding of what the black block is in mainstream society has been growing over the past few years, for example, in a few big name hip hop music videos that prominently –if inaccurately-- incorporate black block imagery: Eminem’s anti-climactic ‘Mosh’ in 2004, last year’s ‘Run This Town’ by Jay Z and Rihanna, or Nas and Damian Marley's Feb 2010 release ‘As We Enter.’
The occurrence of two globally relevant events –the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February, and the G20 Summit in Toronto in June led to there being corresponding protests and black block/militant actions. The close proximity of these two events have led to increased interest in and awareness of protests -including anti-authoritarian organizing such as the black block tactic.
The words, “black bloc tactic’ used in the corporate media is a small, but significant, step forward in public education. Instead of spending collective hours talking and writing articles simply explaining what the black block is, the debate can start from a more developed point and move forward from there.
During the no2010 Olympics Convergence, the militant day of action was called Heart Attack. The goal was to clog the streets of the city, potentially including Lion’s Gate Bridge which led from downtown Vancouver to the main stage for the Games in Whistler. Police response was limited compared to Toronto. The police did prevent the Bridge from being taken, (although they shut it down themselves for the duration of the action.) Some rioting occurred in the downtown core. There was a backlash against militant action by corporate media, and also in leftist circles.
While there were a few high profile detractors, people were coming out of the woodwork to support militant actions at a level not seen in Vancouver since the WTO Convergence in Seattle. Also, protests and actions held in the few months after the Olympics have displayed an increased acceptance and practice of militant tactics and ideas.
A lot of time and energy was spent by supporters of the black bloc and of militant action in simply explaining what it was, mostly that it was not a group; it is a tactic used by many groups coming together to achieve a common goal. The purpose of this and further clarification, was to enable a realistic debate –but in order for that debate to occur a base level of understanding of the subject matter had to be established.
The efforts towards public education that came out of the No2010 Convergence contributed a great deal to the current level of education during the anti-g20 Convergence. Efforts included; participation in public debate, attendance and participation in various community events, vocal presence at meetings and debriefings, interpersonal conversations, articles published and other multimedia pieces broadcast. There was a significant amount of energy directed towards post event ‘after care’ that militants and supporters took as part of the action itself and as part of ongoing efforts at movement building. After events in Toronto, these efforts should be continued and expanded on.
These few paragraphs in the corporate news are a small sample of a more general trend; perhaps the black block tactic is not as alien and unpalatable to the public as is commonly alleged, but is actually relevant and interesting to many people in mainstream society. Even if that interest comes from a point of disagreement the possibility that people actually understand what they are disagreeing with is important for three reasons: fruitful debate cannot be based on ignorance; caricatures and stereotypes are dehumanizing and perpetuate irrational reactions and fear mongering; and because mere exposure to something new leads to a sense of familiarity which then has the potential of leading to acceptance.
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The site for the Vancouver local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.