Patricia DeAnna - not ready for the revolution
Y'all aren't ready for this revolution—and that's the problem. Protests alone won't win. Power isn't granted, it's built.
The right played the long game. The left waited. If you're not thinking long-term, you're just making noise.
Swipe through. Let's talk strategy. #PowerlsBuilt
Link: https://www.threads.net/@patriciadeanna/post/DHOOx3lpaVA
I Need You to Hear Me When I Say This ... Because I say it with love and conviction:
Y'all are not ready for this revolution. And here's why.
1 - You don't know who you're actually fighting.
It's not just "the rich" or "the government" or "the system." Power isn't a single villain—it's a network of influence, history, and conditioning that most of you still participate in without realizing it.
If you don't know how power actually works, you will never be able to dismantle it.
2 - White men, you don't understand how you get in the way.
Even the so-called "good ones" still struggle with:
- Centering themselves in every movement
- Taking deals that secure their own power while leaving the rest behind
- Mistaking their frustration for radicalism, when it's often just entitlement in crisis
Every time revolution knocks, white men are the first to break ranks.
History has proven this. Until they truly understand why, they will repeat the cycle.
3 - 'Girl Code' is still a mess because it centers hierarchy and the male gaze.
Feminism has not freed women from patriarchy--it has just given some women access to power within it. We see it when:
- Women reinforce hierarchy instead of dismantling it
- Respectability politics are used to uplift some while discarding others
- Women are still policing each other's behavior based on male approval
If your feminism still depends on who men find worthy, respectable, or desirable, it's not liberation—it's repackaged submission.
4 - Nobody is reading anything worthwhile.
People want revolution, but they are not studying:
- History-to understand what worked and what failed.
- Psychology-to know how humans actually think and move.
- Strategy-because raw anger without direction is useless.
If the only time you engage with new ideas is through memes and surface-level discourse, you are not ready to lead.
5 - You're ready to fight, but you don't know why, who, or what comes after.
There's an obsession with rage, resistance, and "burning it all down" — but what happens next? What replaces the system? What does winning actually look like?
You are not fighting for chaos--you are fighting for something better. If you don't know what that is, you will not win.
6 - You don't understand how important influence is--or how to wield it.
Power isn't just taken. It's built. It's cultivated. It's wielded strategically.
- Influence moves people faster than outrage.
- Culture shifts before laws do.
- Persuasion is often more powerful than force.
But people still underestimate the soft power of narrative, culture, and perception. They think yelling louder means winning, when in reality, the most strategic voices move in silence until it's time to strike.
7 - The revolution isn't just about tearing things down--it's about building something that lasts.
If all you know is destruction, you will just repeat the cycle with new faces. Revolutions without vision, strategy, and discipline always collapse back into the same systems they fought against.
We don't just need rebels—we need architects.
8 - The truth? Most people are still thinking like the very system they claim to fight.
They say they want change, but:
- They still worship hierarchy, just with different people at the top.
- They still think power is about dominance, not influence.
- They still measure success through the lens of the oppressor.
Revolution isn't just about flipping the table. It's about building a new one with better foundations.
If you actually want change, start with yourself.
- Learn how power actually works.
- Study history and strategy.
- Build real influence instead of chasing attention.
- Stop thinking revolution is just about burning things down—it's about building what comes next.
Because if we don't get this right?
We will just be repeating the same mistakes in different outfits.
Where to Start: Studying Power, Strategy & Influence
POWER & SYSTEMIC OPPRESSION
- The Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon (Decolonization, revolutionary theory)
- Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Paulo Freire (How oppression is sustained through education)
- The Color of Law - Richard Rothstein (How racial segregation was engineered by policy)
- Black Marxism - Cedric Robinson (The history of racial capitalism)
- The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein (How the elite exploit crises to reshape society)
HISTORY & REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS
- A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn (The history they don't teach in school)
- The Jakarta Method - Vincent Bevins (How the U.S. engineered mass killings of leftists worldwide)
- They Can't Kill Us All - Wesley Lowery (The modern Black liberation movement)
- The Sword and the Shield - Peniel Joseph (Malcolm X vs. MLK: Two sides of revolutionary strategy)
- Blood in My Eye - George Jackson (A firsthand account of prison abolition and revolution)
STRATEGY & BUILDING INFLUENCE
- The 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene (Read critically, as it's often used unethically)
- Rules for Radicals - Saul Alinsky (Community organizing 101)
- The Prince - Machiavelli (Understanding realpolitik and power moves)
- The Art of War - Sun Tzu (How to think like a strategist, not just a fighter)
- The Dictator's Handbook - Bruce Bueno de Mesquita & Alastair Smith (How power actually works in governments)
CULTURE, INFLUENCE & PERSUASION
- The Medium is the Message - Marshall McLuhan (How media shapes thought, not just delivers content)
- Contagious - Jonah Berger (How ideas spread and influence culture)
- The Persuaders - Anand Giridharadas (How movements win hearts and minds)
- Caste - Isabel Wilkerson (How racial hierarchies sustain themselves over time)
- Weapons of Math Destruction - Cathy O'Neil (How Al & data reinforce oppression)
DOCUMENTARIES & VIDEO RESOURCES
- 13th (Netflix) - How the prison-industrial complex is modern-day slavery
- Century of the Self (YouTube) - How public relations manipulates the masses
- Manufacturing Consent (YouTube) - Noam Chomsky on media as a tool of power
- The Great Hack (Netflix) - How data and social media are used to control populations
- MLK/FBI (Amazon Prime) - How the U.S. covertly sabotages Black leadership
Final Thought: A Revolution Without Knowledge Is Just Chaos.
If you don't study power, you will always be controlled by those who have.
Add your own recommendations below! What books, thinkers, or documentaries helped YOU understand power? Drop them in the comments.