Why pointless activism is good

[gratuitous]

There are any number of posts in the internet world (including a few right here at DU) that downplay street demonstrations and visits to the concentration camps that don't result in the dignitary even getting in the gate. "What's the point? Nothing changed! This empty gesture won't make any difference."

Well, here's a story for you. See if you can spot the turning point in securing the boy's release:

Officials Jailed Teen

The Miami Herald reports that a 16-year-old teen was separated from his family for two weeks and jailed in the Homestead prison camp after he was detained while on the way to a construction worksite with his uncle. The boy, who was released and reunited with his mom on Sunday, has lived in the U.S. since he was just 9 months old.

* * *

[The] boy recalled being taken first to jail, then to Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention. “I begged to call my mom at all three places but they were like: ‘You can’t get a call,’” in violation of policy, he said. “Oh, and I didn’t get to shower, or brush my teeth for those days,” he continued. He didn’t get his first call to his mom until two days after he was sent on a bus to Homestead.

Meanwhile, “though the mother knew her son was in custody, she still didn’t know where he had been taken to. For days, she called ICE and [Customs and Border Protection] and got no answers. She said they kept bouncing her from agency to agency.” She said, “It wasn’t until I lied and told them I knew my child was at Homestead that they confirmed. In reality I didn’t know that, I just remember seeing Homestead on the news.”

Did you catch that? Mom, frantic and getting the runaround from Trump's various secret police agencies, took a guess based on seeing Homestead in the news because activists had been calling (unsuccessfully and fruitlessly) for shutdown of the Homestead facility. Someone, finally, didn't have the heart to lie right to her, and admitted that they were holding the boy at Homestead.

Maybe someone's doing something you disagree with. Maybe you think their actions are pointless. Fine, do something yourself that you think will be more effective or that you think should be done. But there's no one right way to oppose this lawless regime.

If you're familiar with the scene from The Big Sleep between Bogart and Elisha Cook, Jr., you'll know what I mean.

[Phoenix61]

1. It's the 100th monkey theory.

Sometimes you’re monkey number one and sometimes you’re monkey number 100.