We are willing to go out there and defend others from police violence, unarrest those that do not want to be arrested, and to stand up to the cops rather than sit down and hope for the best. The Black Bloc in the US began around the time of the Gulf War in 1991. And, the Bloc here got its inspiration from the Bloc in Germany during the 1980s. But, it is the Seattle protests that brought the Black Bloc to public view when some anarchists smashed the windows of the more notorious corporate killers. Since that time the corporate media has taken it upon itself to make the Black Bloc the symbol of this new anti-capitalist movement, for better or worse, when the message is obviously much bigger than any of us.
Anarchists are a varied bunch.
The Black Bloc, because it is made up of all kinds of anarchists, cannot be pinned down to one programme or belief. Generally though anarchists are not calling for chaos and destruction. Instead, unlike Marxists who call for a dictatorship of the proletaria tfollowing the revolution, anarchists believe that the people must smash both capitalism and the state simultaneously. In its place, social anarchists call for the collectivization of the economy in the hands of all people with direct democracy. A decentralized federalism with councils of workers would allow for a more bottom up decision making process in a form similar to the affinity group structure we see today.