Call to action for a flexible contingent of social and environmental revolutionaries at demonstrations In the days following the FTAA protest in Quebec City, many of us replayed the events of April 20 and 21 in our minds and came to the conclusion that while this mobilization was a phenomenal success, there were many ways in which it could have been better. We applied ourselves to determining what was missing, and came to these conclusions. In the preparation for Quebec, several meetings were held beforehand. However, the purpose of these meetings was not to coordinate action. In fact, it was explicitly to avoid coordinating, instead providing a forum solely for exchanging information and ideas. The meetings were useful, but did not go far enough. As a result the protests were not as successful as they could have been. The best we could do for each other was to delineate turf around the fence. While this approach was a step in the right direction, it did not succeed as a method of developing an overall approach into which affinity groups could contribute their own plans to make us more likely to succeed in our aims, instead of simply providing one more tactic to the list. Additonally, countless protesters, wanting to support actions at the fence on Saturday, were unable to fully participate in actions there because they were unprepared for the chemical warfare in use by the cops. We need affinity groups who, in part, take on the task of providing eye and mouth protection to those who will be radicalized by the experience of the protest. We need affinity groups who can provide information, fed from the front lines, to those at the rear about where their presence is most needed. We need a way to quickly and efficiently communicate between different parts of the demonstration. We need to be well-organized, and well-equipped. We also need to be open to, and concerned with realizing, opportunities for increased solidarity between, in particular, union members in large organized contingents and other activists. We need to go beyond diversity of tactics, to develop effective strategies. In order to do that: We need to meet in advance if possible to make plans, without jeopardizing our security. We need to look at the big picture, as well as the details. We need to make our decisions democratically, striving for consensus on an overall plan of action, instead of taking an anything-goes approach. We need to choose our tactics according to the political situation, the community involved, the strength of the movement, and the concrete situation of the protest itself. We need to be able to instantly respond to new tactical situations. In order to do that: We need to organize the unorganized, during the protest. We need to communicate between all parts of the action. We need to provide coordination for those who want to take unified, large-scale action which cant be entirely planned out beforehand. Basis of Unity We are the Green and Red Block. We are a network of affinity groups, closely linked, well prepared and well equipped. We believe that a social revolution is necessary to save the planet from the ravages of capitalism. We believe that saving, preserving, and respecting the environment is necessary to give us the possibility of creating a radically different society. We want to take militant action that does not jeopardize the actions and bodies of others. We are revolutionaries who take questions of strategy and tactics seriously in the fight against capitalism. The demonstration is not just an opportunity to vent our frustration at the system; we need to develop ways to challenge the system effectively. We believe that a revolution can only come from the activity of large numbers of people, organized democratically, and conscious of their goals and of the obstacles facing them. Revolutionaries wont make the revolution, they can only help it. We believe that those who already know that the revolution is necessary, and believe it is possible, need to organize themselves in order to take immediate action. We believe that the revolution wont happen all by itself, magically. The current system is strong and rooted in thousands of years of oppression and exploitation. We need to build broader movements which have a potential for radicalization and may one day bring the majority of the oppressed and exploited on the side of the revolution. We do not rule out any tactic in the achievement of our goals, but we do not blindly embrace diversity of tactics or the use of just any type of tactic. Tactics need to be chosen carefully and with the ultimate goal in mind. We will not engage in property destruction for its own sake. Property destruction on a small scale can do nothing to affect the workings of the state or of corporations. Meaningful symbolic actions like graffiti can play a role in creating a favorable momentum for the movement. But simply inflicting damage on buildings or vehicles wont do much in terms of education. Although our actions may provoke a response from the police, we will not outright attack individuals belonging to the police force. It is possible, on the other hand, that we will develop tactics which make the work of repression forces more difficult, and it is likely that we will challenge their security measures in various ways. In any case, we will take measures to actively protect and defend ourselves and the other demonstrators around us from police action, including the use of physical resistance. We will not be heroes or commanders, but we will be leaders. We will neither direct nor assume control over entire actions, but we will make proposals to larger groups and co-ordinate actions decided upon democratically. We want to bring the whole movement forward and for that we cant leave most of it behind. We will be at the front lines, but we will also help to organise people at the back, on each side and everywhere in the middle. We want a movement that gets larger and more radical at the same time. We dont want to have to choose between a smaller, more radical movement and a larger, more moderate one. Ultimately, the direct action of large numbers of people is the only way to win. We will break all the laws and regulations which prevent us from expressing ourselves and protesting freely. This is what civil disobedience really means: to challenge the laws which are unjust and should be revoked or changed. We will defend everyones right to demonstrate and create their own living democracy in the face of the rulers of hypocrisy. This is what marshals used to be about: defending the demonstration from the cops, and providing a space in which protesters can bring the message they want to convey to the doorsteps of the ruling class. We wont run. We wont hide. We will march. We will sit down. We will stand up and stick to our ground. We will climb walls and bring down fences. We will cheer. We will steer. We will communicate, educate, facilitate and coordinate. Red and Green Anger and Hope Struggle and Healing Traditions of the Left and the new movement Labor rights and environmental preservation Teamsters and Turtles We invite all activists who agree with all or part of this statement, to form affinity groups, network with us as soon as possible, and get together at the next large rallies and demonstrations against corporate globalization and the dictatorship of capital. .. The Green and Red Block aims to increase the potential and the effectiveness of demonstrations through the use of tactics to galvanise, encourage, facilitate, activate, and coordinate. - all groups should be equipped with a two-way radio and a megaphone. - all groups should include at least one member with good medic training. - all groups should bring chants, cheers, bandannas, goggles, lots of water, some food - all groups should have a specific flag or vertical banner or any other means of getting together more easily in a large crowd and of being visible from afar to other affinity groups in the block. Possible types and activities of affinity groups: FLYING SUPPORT SQUAD, MIDDLE TO REAR OF DEMO - provision of eye protection and mouth protection in large quantities to activists wishing to join the front lines; provision of information from the front lines to those at the rear regarding cop movements, tear gas and pepper spray use, and actions underway by other protesters; radical cheerleaders; active encouragement of activists to join the front lines FLYING SUPPORT SQUAD, FRONT OF DEMO - provision of eye protection and mouth protection in large quantities to activists wishing to join the front lines; provision of information from the front lines to those at the rear regarding cop movements, tear gas and pepper spray use, and actions underway by other protesters; radical cheerleaders DIRECT ACTION, FRONT LINES - provision of buffer zones between peaceful mass protests and cops; creation of "safe passage" for people to pass from one part of the demo to another; containment of police movement and action through non-violent means, disabling police barricades, fences and other repression devices POLICE TACTIC NEUTRALIZATION SQUAD - use of a varieties of techniques to either neutralise or "return to sender" any tear gas canisters and similar devices thrown at the demonstrators; to limit the effectiveness or prevent the use of water cannons, police street tactics, pepper spray, etc COMIC RELIEF /ART AND REVOLUTION SQUAD - creation of pockets of humorous resistance, by use of costumes, paint, water, props and whatever else is handy MASS NON-VIOLENT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE SQUADS AND CLUSTERS - trained and well-equipped hard and soft blockade squads, prepared to sit and refuse to leave regardless of police tactics; prepared to move forward if possible and appropriate; prepared for self-defence ETC, ETC, ETC SEE YOU THERE/HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON
Text file Source (historic): geocities.com/ericsquire
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