“Stay woke.” “He’s woke.” “Stop the woke movement.” We’ve been hearing the word “woke” for a while. It’s often hashtagged on social media and has even made its way into Florida state legislation, but how many of us really understand what “woke” means or where it comes from? In my constant attempt to promote building bridges over building fires, the Word Nerd will share what she has learned about “woke.”

Definition

Woke, in its simplest terms, is the past tense of “wake.” But that’s not what Twitter is all excited about.

According to Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster.com, woke is an adjective used to describe someone or something that is

• having or marked by an active awareness of systemic injustices and prejudices, especially those related to civil and human rights
• aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)

Etymology

Woke has been used as a slang term in the United States, especially in Black English, for almost a century. It first appeared in a 1943 article of The Atlantic. The piece quoted a Black United Mine Workers official who used woke as a metaphor for social justice:

“Waking up is a damn sight harder than going to sleep, but we’ll stay woke up longer.”

The Atlantic, 1943

During the 1960s, the term meant “well informed”, but still in the sense of political awareness. Woke was often associated with The Civil Rights Movement. It appeared in the title of a New York Times article: “You’re woke if you dig it.”

Woke was used in the 1972 play by Berry Beckham “Garvey Lives!” about Black Nationalist Marcus Garvey. Beckham also used woke to mean social awareness. Here’s a quote from the play:

“I been sleeping all my life. And now that Mr. Garvey done woke me up, I’m gon stay woke. And I’m gon help him wake up other Black folk.”

from the 1972 play “Garvey Lives” by Berry Beckham

In 2008, singer Erykah Badu featured “woke” in the lyrics for her song “Master Teacher”. Here’s a bit of the chorus:

Even though you go through struggle and strife/ To keep a healthy life, I stay woke/ (I stay woke)

Everybody knows a black or a white there’s creatures in every shape and size/ Everybody/ (I stay woke)

The word woke gained popularity again in 2012 after the shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black man. In 2014, after more police shootings of unarmed black men, the Black Lives Matter movement embraced woke and used it as a call to action against injustice.

These days, woke can also be used to refer not only to racial injustice but also to describe awareness of sexism, anti-gay attitudes and policies, and white supremacy. On social media, many large brands have started using woke to appeal to younger audiences.

Conservative Republican Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, used the word when he introduced legislation called Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (W.O.K.E.) Act. According to DeSantis’s website, the W.O.K.E. Act is a legislative proposal that will give businesses, employees, children and families tools to fight back against woke indoctrination. Explaining the bill on his site, DeSantis says, “We won’t allow Florida tax dollars to be spent teaching kids to hate our country or to hate each other.”

Some say the meaning of the word has been diluted, as it is now used facetiously or as a source of humor in memes. Black author and scholar Kaitlyn Greenidge recently noted on The Argument podcast, that the changing meaning of the word “woke” these days is yet another example of white dominant culture corrupting black language. Greenidge says she is frustrated with “the continual denigration of a word like woke.” She says Black people came up with the word woke to describe the experience of living in America as a black person. It’s been a tradition in Black culture for a long time. But she adds, “We also know, knowing that tradition, that it is also a tradition for white dominant cultures to come in and to corrupt our language and to turn it into something else. And that’s what’s happening here… that word is very seductive for a very large portion of white America to just sort of throw everywhere.”

Word Nerd observations on woke

First, I’m not sure how “awareness” translates to hate, but I realize many people share Mr. DeSantis’s view of “woke” ideology. Perhaps that could be a good conversation starter between two people truly willing to listen and understand each other.

Second, I find it interesting that “woke” basically kept the same meaning from the 1940s until the mid 2010s when… guess what? Social media started dominating our lives and big companies used it as a branding tactic. It is very interesting, if not disturbing, to watch how social media influences the popularity, meaning, and perception of words. It’s something we should all stay aware of.

And please, please, if you want to use a word, make sure before you do, that you know what it means and where it comes from by consulting reputable sources, like Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster.com. I hope this post helps with at least one word.

What other words from politics or culture would you like to learn more about?

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!