Friends, I know you're intentions are good but flying black and red flags and wearing all black and using words like 'autonomous' makes us look like a religion. How can we expect to grow into a mass movement if we set these conditions for joining us?

This is getting fucking tiresome - what is with all these idiots who - the DAY AFTER MAYDAY - come out of the wood work and start throwing criticism. No one is claiming to BE the movement against capitalism - NO ONE is saying that they should follow them. The autonomous Workers Bloc is ONE iniative which involved a variety of people from different political backgrounds and approaches. As has been said before - do you own thing or shut the fuck up.

Those criticisms may have been valid if this hadn't been on Mayday, on the workers march, in central london. Its not as if the anarchists and autonomists marched down a high street in Lewisham dressed like that. They were standing in a proud tradition of clear and honest anarchism - and in my experience its pretty effective. I would have thought that people would be alinetated and always try and dress down, but from having attended these things they actually attract *more* people by the way they look than other groups.

But let me deal with your objections one by one:

wearing all black - well i think we know where this comes from and i agree that it is strange to wear all black if you don't actually intend to riot. However, the police generally decide whether things become a riot by attacking the block - if you are all in black then you have less chance of being identified later by the cops. Also, as happened last year, fascists take pictures of these marches or pull them from indymedia and the BBC, to identify anarchists. This not only makes you at risk from fasists but also from your employers who may use your association with anarchism against you at work. Obviously the same goes for the police photograpers.

Wearing all black is stupid though, i agree. If people need to hide their identity it can be done casually with a cap, high collar and a scarf. Not that many people were even wearing masks, but the pics posted have mainly been of masked people after the fascists copied pictures of indymedia last year.

using words like autonomous - fucking hell, is it any worse than anarchist or socialist? you say:
"How can we expect to grow into a mass movement if we set these conditions for joining us?"
i assume you are talking about the anarchist movement. Well, unfortunately the anarchist movement is called um, the anarchist movement. Its no worse than calling it the autonous workers movement or libertarian communism. There's a certain set of ideas involved and if interested ppl are going to fall at the first hurdle with the name, the fuck can we do? Lets be honest about our politics, but in straightforward and engaging ways. Nobody should join or reject a movement on the strength of a name really mate.

"flying black and red flags" - oh come on, thats the flag of anarchism! Its the most uniting symbol and least offensive one we have. Its free of the connections with punk like the circle A, less creepy than the black flag (which fascists, nationlaists and islamists all fly as well) and unites all class struggle tendencies. If you look here:  http://libcom.org/forums/news/mayday-around-world
you will see the red and black flying from Indonesia to Bulgaria, from Turkey to Sweden. You are welcome to your opinion, and i understand it, but personally i rate the flag highly.

Anyway, if you came, nice one, and nice one to everybody who made the block happen.
Keep it up.