Occupy Tactics: Violence and Legitimacy in the Occupy Movement and Beyond

[tama]

4. Thank you for your kind words

I agree with critics that year ago or now is not the best time or place for certain black block tactics in US, though from the little experience I have of them I admire and to some extent understand their power to empower us. And that the strategy that Hedges proposes and supports - to make the state servants and victims with guns not to shoot us - remains our best overall strategy.

I've been on one black block march that was in support of the 2008 Greek uprising. The art of organic group behavior of being unruly and unpredictable in response to police containment was fun, and what to me was most astonishing was that when police took hold of one of the participants, rest of the marchers immediately surrounded the police car and demanded release very loudly and with the whole of their fragile bodies, putting all traffic at that place to indefinite stop and raising emotions of drivers. Until the police released our friend from the police car, which was what happened very soon. I heard something like that happened also in NY during latest happening - without people wearing black and bandanas. BTW during the one black block action I participated I was not wearing black or bandana, and my mug was shown on national TV to the amusement of my then roommate in gardening school who happened to see it.