I was also at the Summit of the Americas in 2001 as a (mostly) peaceful protestor. I was thankful for the actions of the black bloc at these protests. The violence they metted out was nothing in comparison to the violence employed by the police, generally against the more peaceful protestors, as one poster mentioned in the previous thread. The police appeared downright afraid of the black bloc and focused on abusing peacefully protesting teenagers and families; I can give two personal accounts where the actions of the black bloc actually saved peaceful protestors from harm/arrest at these protests. The media write us off anyway, I spoke with the CNN crew covering the event at the time; their misrepresentation started long before the oh-so-terrible acts of violence by the dispossessed and oppressed. Black bloc folks I know are the lowest of low-income workers, if not on the street themselves (and some are); they have nothing to lose and they put themselves on the line for those of us who do. Show some gratitude you yahoos