Would someon please explain "woke" to me. nt

[leftyladyfrommo]

[Solomon]

1. !

[fescuerescue]

14. This is when we all get to project a little bit.

[The Wizard]

2. I see it as those who didn't

vote got motivated by the swine Trump and decided to vote and get involved in politics.

[Treefrog]

3. Well, one thing I have learned is that there are apparently degrees of "wokeness."

I learned that right here on du. A poster was insulting duers on a thread by saying they all seemed to think that they were “woke AF” but that they were nothing of the kind. This poster was pretty wrought up about it. So apparently “woke AF” is one of the higher degrees of wokeness. And none of us in that thread had yet achieved this level, at least according to the poster who was complaining. Perhaps someone could post a continuum with all the levels?

[Maeve]

4. "Woke" is being aware that there are systematic problems in society

Realizing that people aren't just poor because they are lazy, but that they are born into a society that values property over lives, for example. And then you try to change the society to fix the problems.

At least that is the root idea, but who knows what some people try to make it mean (Humpty Dumpty talking to Alice comes to mind "Words mean what I say they mean&quot

[StarfishSaver]

5. Here's a good explanation

{I]t means to be awake to sensitive social issues, such as racism.
...
In 1962 the New York Times published an article of “phrases and words you might hear today in Harlem”, a neighbourhood in the northern section of the New York City where many African-Americans live.

The African-American novelist William Melvin Kelley wrote the earliest known use of the word under its new definition in an article titled, “If you’re woke, you dig it”.

Ten years later in 1972, a character in the Barry Beckham play Garvey Lives! says he’ll “stay woke” via the work of pan-Africanist, Marcus Garvey, with the line: “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”.
...
It has become a common term of derision among some who oppose the movements it is associated with, or believe the issues are exaggerated. It is sometimes used to mock or infantilise supporters of those movements.


https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/woke-what-mean-meaning-origins-term-definition-culture-387962

[Baitball Blogger]

6. An awareness that racism exists and is systemic in our society.

What we're seeing today with the "woke" culture, is what we use to call, raising consciousnesses. In other words, if you're aware that it exists, you can't refuse to look for remedies to fix the problem. Which is why James Carville has an uphill battle here. He's basically telling black Americans not to rock the boat too much because they'll upset the few right-wingers who might work with us. Yeah, no.

[ancianita]

7. It means consciousness. It is used by Black people who have awakened to the reality of the

"American Dream." Because as George Carlin said, you have to be asleep to believe it.

Here's a more thorough explanation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke

[uponit7771]

9. Black artist defined the term in 1940s we've been using it sense ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke

Black American folk singer-songwriter Huddie Ledbetter, a.k.a. Lead Belly, uses the phrase near the end of the recording of his 1938 song "Scottsboro Boys", which tells the story of nine black teenagers accused of raping two white women, saying: "I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there—best stay woke, keep their eyes open".

[Native]

10. To me, being woke is more that just being aware of an issue,

it connotes a level of understanding beyond awareness. It may not be possible to fully understand something without truly experiencing it ourselves, but we can certainly open ourselves up to learning as much as we can about an inequity with an open mind and open heart and a willingness to dispense with any preconceived biases, to basically strip ourselves bare and look at the world anew.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. Democrats Need to Talk Differently About Race

Here is a good example https://politicalwire.com/2021/04/28/democrats-need-to-talk-differently-about-race/

More from James Carville’s interview with Vox:

You ever get the sense that people in faculty lounges in fancy colleges use a different language than ordinary people? They come up with a word like “Latinx” that no one else uses. Or they use a phrase like “communities of color.” I don’t know anyone who speaks like that. I don’t know anyone who lives in a “community of color.” I know lots of white and Black and brown people and they all live in … neighborhoods.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with these phrases. But this is not how people talk. This is not how voters talk. And doing it anyway is a signal that you’re talking one language and the people you want to vote for you are speaking another language. This stuff is harmless in one sense, but in another sense it’s not.

We have to talk about race. We should talk about racial injustice. What I’m saying is, we need to do it without using jargon-y language that’s unrecognizable to most people — including most Black people, by the way — because it signals that you’re trying to talk around them. This “too cool for school” shit doesn’t work, and we have to stop it.

[LexVegas]

13. He's right. nt

[Iggo]

12. Being awake or having awakened or having been awakened.

Specifically, awake or awakened to social injustices (such as systemic racism.)

[SKKY]

15. "Woke", to me means "Aware". In any number of areas...