I don't what an autonomous bloc is, and googling it hasnt helped. Black and red flag meaning of? you assemble for what exactly? please tell me, it sounds like it might be fun..? I promise I won't be any trouble..

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_bloc

6 Get surrounded by Tactical Support Group for duration of march

7 Stay imprisoned in pen at destination until allowed to leave one by one after it's all over.

The autonomous blog is a group of well meaning but tactically mistaken activists at big demos who wear a uniform (all black) and wave (red and black) flags even though they claim to be against conformity and against flags. Correct me if I'm wrong. Many of them only go on one demo a year and so celebrate by drinking cans of strong ale. They reinforce the idea of 'us and them' about protest.

Sorry guys. I used to be similar when I was first an activist (apart from the beer) but we can't spread the message by looking like hooligans, waving flags and using words like 'autonomous'. Outside of sociology graduates, who even knows the meaning of this word. Why not call it The Spicy or Naughty Bloc.

If people want to do direct action wouldn't it be better to blend in? That said I do think black blocks look cool!

A lot of people here seem to be confusing the concepts of a black bloc and an autonomous bloc. while black blocs are generally made up of autonomists and anarchists, the two are not the same. take a look at some of the links at  http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22autonomous+bloc%22+site%3Aindymedia.org.uk for reports from past autonomous blocs.

generally the idea is to form a visible bloc within a wider demonstration and use it to hand out publicity, provide a visible radical presence within the march, meet other people, and so on. in my experience they don't offer that much practically but can be incredibly encouraging to those involved - more fun than being surrounded by trots and liberals if nothing else.

Toby - who claims to be "against flags"? that's pretty bizarre...

To confirm:

As Rasputin noted, this is an autonomous bloc rather than a black bloc. There are some similarities, but the autonomous bloc is althogether fluffier and less geared towards directly causing 'trouble' on the march.

There's no uniform as such, but if we all turn up wearing black then we'll look damn awesome.

By autonomous, I mean that the bloc will be unaffiliated with any single group - blocs like these provide a nice gathering for those who aren't going on a march with their lobbying group / trade union / political party, but still want to be part of a group of like-minded people on the day, rather than wandering around on their own.

Regular Observer, were you on the last Bash the Rich march by any chance? ;) We're expecting to draw a police presence, but I think we should avoid being properly penned on this sort of march, and be allowed to leave without trouble at the end. Don't quote me on that, tho.

The Red and Black flag is the anarcho-syndicalist flag, although it is sometimes used as a general anarchist flag in place of the black flag. For a background on these flags, check  http://www.infoshop.org/faq/append2.html - for a general synopsis of Anarcho-Syndicalism, check  http://www.infoshop.org/faq/secA3.html - i'm rubbish at explaining things, y'see.

Finally, just to be clear, I'm not against all flags.
I'm against any flag except my own ;)

...i dont see what the big deal is, personally. I always enjoy myself on the autonomous bloc, its just nice to rally everyone together and have everyone united under their own ideas and banners, rather than a load of identical, carbon-copied amnesty international placards etc....
And not all blocs get penned in. The last few ive been on havent, apart from BTR - however, the group i was with dispersed before we could get sucked into the kettle. Then we had our own fun ;-)

So yeah, come along! Its always fun - dont let the doom-mongering keyboard revolutionaries get you down!!!

Love

A

Sorry, you're right I was confusing autonomous with the black bloc/k. Sorry, I was making sweeping remarks like about flags. I do think people look cool in black waving red and black flags but for building a bigger movement I think it's too clicky/cliquey(?). I thought the demos in Pakistan recently were cool where guys in suits were throwing rocks. Not that the rock throwing was cool but seeing radical people in suits was powerful.

On the issue of the police blocking people in. When you are on a demo keep your eye on the police. It takes time for them to be told what to do and to get to it. You can see when they are starting to surround groups. At that point split up/move away.

See you at the demo. :)

On the issue of blocs being surrounded by police, Toby is right - they are a heirarchical organisation and they do what they're told - it takes time for them to do this.
If it looks like theyre gonna close in and stop the march from moving, theni find discussing your options with the people near you and coming to a reasoned conclusion about what action you would like to take. (i.e, will it be safer to disperse in small groups or stay as part of the main demo?) is normally a pretty sound idea.
That said, there will be alot of police there so try not to panic! just because theyre walking with us doesnt mean theyre gonna pen us in....
I'm no expert in this field and im not claiming to be - just a few ideas, thats all.

solidarity

this is not a black block, this is not a direct action block, this will be a congregation of anarchists and fellow travellers, as it always is, who want to join a larger demo.

Its worth doing to give anarchism a visible presence and potentially if it kicks off, which it never does seriously any more, but lets not get over the top about what to look out for and 'palestinian scarves' or what have you. If you want to cover you mush from the cop snappers, groovy - it doesn't take a balaclava or all black clothes to do that. Any clothing choiuce is essentially fashion based for these things.

Organisers - might have been a better idea to put a bit of info as why you are identifiying as anarchists into your original post? The block itself is not self-explanatory, its a contemporary cultural footnote. Anarchists sometimes form blocks and fly flags, people who fly flags and form blocks are not neccessarily anarchists - if you get my meaning.

All the best and see you there.

Ordinarily, I would join the Bloc … and was intending to until I saw this below. It is an article for a callout to ‘Be part of the biggest ever mobilisation of vegetarians and vegans on environmental grounds!!’

 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/12/386998.html



I definitely don’t mean to discredit the Bloc, Autonomous, Anarchist, Black, Whatever Bloc is called for … but I can’t help but being drawn to this group. Every March that I attend is about humans and the injustices committed by humans on humans. However, this group are actually talking about the concentration camps that other species are born, grown and harvested in … humans very rarely make mention of this at demonstrations, so this is a really rare opportunity for this incredibly important issue to be put across.

The article is fairly long, but it mentions ‘MEETING POINT - We’ll meet from 12 noon amongst the main climate marchers on Millbank(Westminster Tube). Don’t forget that 30,000 people are expected, so to be more specific, we’ll meet towards the northern end of the mass of people. That’s the end closest to Parliament Square’.

As I know some of the people that are intending on being in the Bloc are Veg. it would be great if the Bloc could be close to the Veg. Group … that way those that would identify with the Veg. and Bloc won’t have to choose between the two.

Solidarity … For All Things Treated Unfairly