Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

In a bloc made up of affinity groups from different areas, the local group will inevitably have the most information about what is possible, and may well consequently have done the most thinking and preparing. This is not necessarily a problem, as long as others trust them and are organized enough themselves to retain their autonomy. The local group should make provisions for sharing as much information with others as is safe, and also be sure not to assume unthinkingly a position of authority over the other groups: a local group attenapting to lead an uninformed mass on an unrevealed secret mission can be a real recipe for disaster. On the other hand, as the element of surprise is the most important factor in almost aU bloc actions, provided that there is a high level of trust between organizers and participants a secret plan that only becomes clear to everyone at the instant it comes to fruition can be a powerful thing.

Preparation

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One of the most important things to do before an action is learn the area. As many members of each group as possible should spend time traversing it, taking careful note of escape routes and dead ends, cameras, places where the police may mass or that they may seek to protect, possible targets, possible resources (barricading materials such as moveable fences, etc.), and above all making sure they will not get lost. Those who cannot be there in advance should at least memorize maps. For locations for which street maps are unavailable or do not suffice, it is possible to get aerial maps off the internet. Make sure you have a safe place to stay before the action if there's any chance the po-Hce are expecting it. Far too many times, the police have raided activist housing before an action and arrested hundreds of people; do everything you can to find a place to sleep and prepare that is off their radar, so you won't run ffiat risk. Stay with a friend of your uncle, or rent sleeping space at a YMCA. Don't be stuck trying to sleep in your car on the

streets they're patrolling in preparation for the next day's riot! If you're from out of town, make equally sure your traveling group {which may not be the same as your affinity group) has planned a safe regrouping and departure from the area, and has a backup plan in case of emergency. Keep in mind that if things really go off, certain parts of the city may be closed off to you after the action, so you'll need to regroup elsewhere.

Advance meetings are a critical part of the preparation for most blocs. Again, how secure or public these meetings are will depend on how many people (and with what level of direct action experience) you hope to involve, and what degree of legal risk you're willing to take. If you're trying to organize a massive but largely symbolic open bloc, you might choose to circulate meeting times openly; if you're organizing the core of a bloc that will be open in the street but needs some preparation in private, tell others you trust to pass on an invitation to the meeting only to those they trust; if you're preparing an entirely closed bloc, not only should you only reveal the time and place of the meeting to your companions in the action, but you should also make sure they all know not to mention the existence of the project itself to anyone, and to have alibis ready so their other friends won't wonder what they're up to. For more vital information about security precautions, consult the Security Culture recipe on pg. 461.

If you are part of an affinity group participating in a larger bloc, you'll want to have your own meetings first, so when a representative of your group attends the larger meeting she can present the information you have, the resources you have to offer, the goals you hope to achieve, and the plans you propose, according to how much of this you trust a larger number of people to know. If this is a mass action and there is a larger spokes-council meeting taking place, at least one person from the bloc or in communication with it should attend; it may or may not be safe for this person to identify herself as such, but she should at least be there to take note of what else is going on. A representative of the bloc could attend the spokescouncil presenting herself as a part of an affinity

Immediately before actions that will involve participants who are unprepared or unfamiliar with the terrain, you can distribute maps of the area. These can also include a legal number (see Legal Support, pg. 329), in case of arrest?but take care lest possession of such maps incriminate arrestees.

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group hoping to do support for those involved in bloc activity, and thus test the waters or even meet others interested in the bloc.