During yesterday’s march to honour and remember the missing/dead women from the DTES, I ducked into the Media Coop offices established by Franklin Lopez and others. Their small busy basement office, filled with computers and technology of all stripes, reminded me of the birth of IndyMedia, during the Battle of Seattle. When I arrived their server was down, so I waited until Frank had a few moments to chat.
The Media Coop has evolved from an Ontario based project called The Dominion, and is now in several cities and growing. The day before, Frank told me, they’d had a million hits to their website. The reason? They’ve got cameras out on the streets, witnessing the no Olympics demos from a unique perspective, lots of excellent footage documenting the intriguing Hudson’s Bay event, and incredible volunteers doing the work of editing.
I call the HBC event intriguing because it raises so many interesting questions. Among them, where were the police while black bloc activists pushed over newspaper boxes, dragged them across the streets, and threw them through the big glass windows? They weren’t on rooftops, with radios? They had no fire hoses, tear gas, horses, tasers at their disposal? It’s almost as if they allowed it to happen. In fact, if one were watching from a distance, it’d perhaps be difficult to know which was which – both were dressed completely in black, both sides had their faces and identities covered.
Frank Lopez supports the black bloc because, he believes, their actions raise the level of discussion to consider the roots of oppression. Since the Hudson’s Bay windows were smashed, people are now talking about the origins of Canada’s corporate government, its systematic theft of land and murder of original inhabitants, the small pox infested blankets the HBC distributed to the native communities. I don’t know what’s going on elsewhere, but many of my interesting facebook “friends,” long time activists among them, are focused on the tactics rather than the motivation. We understand the history, we realize why the HBC was targeted (and surely the police might have guessed that too), but what’s being discussed is whether such tactics are ultimately serving the greater good. Some suggest the bloc are playing into the police’s hands. Others believe provocateurs have infiltrated the group. Non activists see the violence and assume it’s a tactic that will next be applied to their homes.
We all, after all, live on stolen native land. First the Bay ….. what next?
I remember a story my friend (a Creative Writing teacher) from New York City told me, about the time she took a school group to what was billed as a peaceful protest. For no apparent reason the police, on horseback, charged the crowd. Luckily, she was able to move herself and the children to safety. My friend is devoted to systemic change. She works with hearts and minds. But she’ll never go to another rally.
I believe we live on stolen native land. I also believe that, when you build a home, it’s essential to establish a solid foundation. If we’re gonna get beyond capitalism (and we must, if we as a species are to survive), then we’ve got to build something grounded in trust. Cooperation. Compassion. And peace.
Capitalism was forced on the indigenous peoples of this land through violent means, and its violence continues. Whatever we build next needs hearts and minds and, whether you want to believe it or not, you’re simply not going to win those with broken windows. Not this one, anyways.
